Digimon 3: the Battle for Earth
by oblivian reb
Summary: REWRITTEN! The story of the ultimate digimon. The only one of its kind ever known to exist and that will ever exist. These are the trials and tribulations of the one true digimon: the Digimon Prince.
1. Prologue Pt 1: A Prophecy?

Prologue Part 1: A Prophecy?

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, if I did… T.K. and Kari would've been married and so would Mimi and Tai.

Summary: VERY AU fic, starts in the beginning of Season 2, then jumps to twelve years later. This is the story of the one true digimon, the Digimon Prince. Part of two worlds, but one being, this is the story of his life starting from his creation to his finish.

"Where the sky was once darkened by the wings of many bats and evil laughter,

A great and terrible battle took place to save the fates of two different worlds.

Where once seven had been, Eight Chosen Ones were brought forth to save.

And in the hour of the beast, the true form of the undead king was revealed,

As angels shot arrows of hope and light, creating a miracle to vanquish all evil.

Alas, the miracle was not enough to save the fates of the two different worlds.

A darker evil than the undead king came forth wreaking havoc for all to see.

The Eight came together in a bright storm of light, bringing peace to all."

"Four cycles passed on and trouble was once more stirred in the world of data.

The heart of fire fought this great evil but was defeated by the hidden friend.

Four more lights of miracles, purity, faith, and kindness were then chosen,

As the two of hope and light were renewed in the essence of all creation.

This new power combined with the Chosen Ones' power and good won again.

Then in a moment of evil and true sacrifice, the Heart of fire lost his Protector.

From here on, the Heart of fire fell into a spiral of darkness and disappeared.

The great Leader gone, history repeats and the Twelve that shined brightly, dim.

The Ones left behind face greater trials and suffer losses beyond the imagination.

The innocence present in Them is replaced by maturity and the truth of life.

The lost One suffers alone and in darkness, but then His salvation comes.

The hidden Friend, once lost to darkness, is saved by the One sent to protect him.

Where once there were only Eight, is now abundance, but Eleven shine brightest.

Eleven and abundance combine in a storm of light and peace reigns once more."

"The Eleven that shined brightest have moved on, but the lost One cannot.

Twelve cycles have passed and Eleven will be Twelve once more inevitably.

Lost innocence turned to bitterness and anger, the One yet to come loses sight.

Still the broken soul the One keeps a vow, ignoring the call that brings peace.

Returning to the world beyond is no option, as he is still the One that was lost.

In its most genuine form, a cure comes, giving the One healing and peace.

The cardinal Four call once more and the One answers, following logic.

Henceforth the one yet to come is now the One who has come as Six unite.

The One who came transforms, becoming not one but two and a we not an I.

As the One becomes two but one, the Cure is gifted with the yet to come.

The gift forewarns yet the Cure heeds not, tragedy is destined to come about.

Much pain comes from the tragedy as lives are unraveled and hearts lost.

In the midst of it all, the One, honed by its past, is crowned the Prince of data.

Keeping data and flesh within him, the Prince is hero and enemy at once.

The Prince is of all, destined to bring eternal peace and happiness but only semi.

Yet hope still thrives for true happiness is never found in life but in death.

And the One who came will be remembered as the one true Prince of data."

"In the twelve cycles to pass, the day of the month of the year of the beast appears.

Once more, at the hour of the beast, an evil, the greatest, in stealth awakes.

The evil will reside in many and few, but some will heed and some will not.

None know of this evil presence that resides in all that will not vanish.

Evil's presence sparks a war greater than any to have existed and to exist.

Doomed, this evil will be hidden until its mark is placed on the One who came.

Only the One who came can vanquish it, but to do so must transform in sei.

Going in one, He must find the True Fire, the heart he once and still holds.

To alter in two, He must find the Ally, the lost but not the forgotten Koishii.

Modifying in three, He must find the Loyalty in the midst of betrayal and loss.

To go in four, He must find at the end of his bleak and eternal tunnel, the Miyako.

Now, to alter in five, He must find the Reason to go on, why he fights to the end.

Power of six to get, he must find the Core of his existence, why he never loses.

Alas, though He alters in six, his great might is not enough against evil's power.

In order to vanquish the evil, the One must yield the great and forgotten power.

To yield it, He must learn the meaning of prince, then, he shall overcome destruction.

Clouds of life and its very essence shall vanquish the evil and keep the promise.

In the confrontation the light shall prevail once and for all and all evil shall die."

"Never again will such an evil exist and the prince be needed, and so they will be lost.

The one who came and the greatest evil will cease to exist, never to be seen again."


	2. Prologue Pt 2: Time Passes

PROLOGUE PART 2: Times Passes

_FLASH SCENE _

"Hey you two, what's wrong?" Sora asked T.K. and Kari curiously.

"Look up there." T.K. replied.

"The fog, it's getting thicker." Kari finished.

"Impossible." Tai stated. Everyone looked up at the sky. The fog really was getting thicker.

"HUH?!" exclaimed all of the digidestined, extremely confused.

"But Myotismon is gone." Kari protested to no one in particular.

"Maybe he's still out there somewhere, what if we've just made him stronger?" Joe asked.

"Aww give me a break!" shouted Tai frustrated as he kicked Myotismon's mask.

"That lousy fog barrier is still up." Matt complained.

"So beating Myotismon didn't solve anything." Mimi declared, upset.

"Hang on! We've got mail from Gennai." Izzy stated, the others gathered around Izzy's computer. On the screen was an old carved tablet.

_Although this looks like a graham cracker, it's actually an ancient text which I've translated: "The sky will be darkened by the wings of many bats. The fallen people will invoke the name of the undead digimon king and when the clock strikes the hour of the beast, the undead king will reveal himself in his true form as the beast. Then angels will shoot arrows of hope and light at the loved ones of those they've been sent to protect, and a miracle will happen. Please always recycle." That last part seems weird, but good luck!_

**Where the sky was once darkened by the wings of many bats and evil laughter, …**

…**A great and terrible battle took place to save the fates of two different worlds…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Myotismon! You'll love this boss I found the Eighth Digidestined." Demidevimon exclaimed.

"You did?" Myotismon asked.

"What?! How'd he do it?" exclaimed a surprised Mimi.

Gatomon felt fear thinking, 'Oh no, not Kari.'

_FLASH SCENE _

"Little girl, why have you chosen to show yourself to me? Do you have any idea what's about to happen to you?" Myotismon asked curiously.

"I've got a guess." "Then why?"

"Cause you were hurting all those people someone had to stop you from hurting innocent people!" Myotismon looks at the small girl and is surprised by her bravery. He smiles.

"My, what a thoughtful little girl you are."

"Why won't you look at the Eighth Child's face?" Myotismon asked.

"Because she's not the Eighth Child." Gatomon replied.

"Who is she?" "I've never seen her in my life." "Is that right?" Myotismon smiles and snaps his fingers. Demidevimon flies to Kari and pulls her hair.

"Kari NO!" Gatomon looks and tries to go to Kari.

"Kari interesting you know her name since you never met her before." Gatomon breaks free of Myotismon grasp and stands in front of Kari. "Kari!"

"Together again, too bad it'll be short lived." Kari and Gatomon look defiant and strong.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Kari! Here catch!" Wizardmon states, throwing the crest and tag. Kari catches it.

"It's Wizardmon!" Gatomon shouts happily.

"So you're still alive?" "That's right it'll It'll take more than the likes of you to destroy me." "We will see!" Myotismon sends a sphere at Wizardmon knocking him into the wall.

"Oh no Wizardmon!" "Now give that to me you little brat!" "NO!"

"That wasn't a request." He puts up his hand as if to fire another sphere but at Kari.

"WAIT!" Tai exclaimed running onto the scene as Mimi goes to the other children.

"Mimi!" Lilymon shouts happily.

"You've just picked on the wrong guy's little sister fang face! Kari here catch!" Tai throws Kari her digivice she holds it up for all to see but Demidevimon swoops in and steals it.

"Hey!" "I got the Digivice, you can thank me after you take over the world boss."

"He's strong, too strong." "Are you done? I'm bored, it's time to finish you off. Nightmare..." "Patamon digivolve to…" "Angemon!" "Now what?"

"Have you had enough or do you want some more?" Angemon asked.

"Actually I was about to ask you the same question Grisly Wing." Myotismon launches his attack but the attack isn't aimed at Angemon but at Kari and Gatomon.

"Kari!" Tai screams. Wizardmon gets up and runs just in time to take the full force of the attack. With arms outstretched Wizardmon sacrifices his life to save Kari and Gatomon. Gatomon sees Wizardmon's noble act and sees his cloak being shredded. Gatomon can do nothing but look. The bats disappear and Wizardmon falls down on his back.

"Next time, don't get in my way!" Myotismon shouted evilly. "Oh no!"

"Wizardmon...you're going to be alright please don't leave." Kari cried. Gatomon knelt beside her fallen friend and comrade. "Are you alright Gatomon?" Wizardmon asked.

"You saved me. I'm sorry." Gatomon says, crying. "About what?"

"Sorry for getting you involved in this."

"Don't be sorry, I don't have any regrets. If I hadn't met you...My life would have had no meaning...I'm glad you and I are friends." Wizardmon stated weakly.

"Best forever." Gatomon added. "Thank you for everything."

"Wizardmon are you going to be ok? Please answer!" Kari cried. Kari's digivice glows.

"I can't hold on!" Demidevimon says, struggling with the digivice. He lets go, and Tai grabs the Digivice right from the air and with one continuous motion throws it towards Kari. Kari catches it.

"Not her NO!" Myotismon shouts. Kari's crest shines and Gatomon starts digivolving.

"Gatomon digivolve to…" "Angewomon!"

_END SCENE _

…**Where once seven had been, Eight Chosen Ones were brought to save…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"When the clock strikes the hour of the beast, the undead king will reveal himself in his true form." Izzy told the others.

"Terrific. But, what's the hour of the beast?" Tai asked.

"Six, six, six. Six seconds and six minutes past six o'clock." Matt's dad answered.

"Sounds like triple six is our unlucky number." Tai replied. Tai looks at his digivice, which turns to six o'clock before his eyes. "It's almost time!"

"Quick, get in the van!" The group rushes away in the van. Tai looks at his digivice again. It now reads six o'clock. "We're never going to make it!" All the bats fly to one building, and disappear

inside. Tai's digivice clicks to 6:06:06. "Showtime!" Beams of light shoot from the building, and a creature begins to emerge. The van screeches to a halt in time for the group inside to see the building being torn apart by an enormous digimon with black and red wings, and long blonde hair. They run toward it.

"Is that Myotismon?" Tai asked.

"He's been taking steroids!" Matt exclaimed, amazed.

"It's his true form. The beast." Matt's dad replied matter of factly.

"Hey, come on!" Agumon said. "Right!" Gabumon answered.

"Agumon digivolve to... Greymon!" "Gabumon digivolve to... Garurumon!" The red giant turns to them and opens his arms. A gale of wind stops the other two digimon in their tracks. Demidevimon flies in front of his master to address the attackers.

"Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce you to the new and improved VenomMyotismon!" Demidevimon stated.

"VenomMyotismon?" Tai asked, confused.

"That's right, the king of the undead. He's the un and you're the dead!"

_END SCENE _

…**In the hour of the beast, the true form of the undead king was revealed…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Wait a minute, the prophecy, that's it! Quick, Izzy, what did it say in there about angels?"

"I begin to grow bored with you!" VenomMyotismon shouted.

"What does the prophecy say?" Izzy's mom asked.

"Angels will shoot arrows of hope and light at the loved ones of those they had been sent to

protect, and a miracle will happen." Izzy read from his computer screen.

Okay if Angemon and Angewomon are the angels in the prophecy...who are the ones they've been sent to protect?" Izzy's dad asked.

"Go for it, Angemon!" T.K. cheered. "Yeah, knock him right out!" Kari added.

"That must mean T.K. and Kari! The angels will shoot arrows at their loved ones!"

"It's simple." Tentomon explained, "Allow me to explain. Say I'm kind of like a guardian angel. Whose guardian angel am I? Yours. And who do you love the most?"

"I was getting to that! My mom and dad, obviously." Izzy snapped.

"Exactly. But T.K. and Kari not only have moms and dads, they have something else, too."

"They have brothers!" Izzy exclaimed, his face brightening.

"In a word, bingo!" Tentomon stated.

"Why would you want them shooting arrows at your loved ones? Sounds dangerous to me." Izzy said frowning.

"They're angels, Izzy. Maybe they're like Cupid. He was sort of an angel. When he shot

arrows, they were arrows of love."

"Mom, isn't that a little corny?" Izzy asked, wrinkling his nose.

"It may be corny, but I buy it. All we've got to do is get Angemon and Angewomon to hit you guys with their arrows of love!" Tentomon declared.

"Hey, let's not be too hasty here!" Izzy interrupted.

"What do you think?" Matt asked, looking at Tai.

"It's worth a shot! Kari!" Tai called out to his sister. "T.K.!" Matt called.

"You sure you wanna?" T.K. asked, unsure.

"Let's see these arrows of hope and light!" Tai responded.

"You two have got to get them to shoot at us." Matt added.

"They'll only do it if you tell them to!" Tai finished.

"You really want them to shoot you?" Kari asked uncertainly.

"What if you get like, dead or something?" T.K. brought up, scared.

"Never happen. Right?" Matt asked, looking at Tai. He nodded, "Right!"

"Okay." Kari said dubiously. Then Kari and T.K. held their crests up and spoke into them

like walkie-talkies. "Angewomon!" "Angemon, listen up!" Beams of light traveled from the crests to the angels who were circling VenomMyotismon. A bow and arrow appeared in Angewomon's hand and a spear type arrow in Angemon's hand.

"I know this maybe sounds crazy, but shoot Matt and Tai with your arrow!"

"You too, Angewomon!" Kari stated, now sure of herself.

"He's right." Angemon said. "Sounds crazy. But..." Angewomon trailed off. The angels turned around and hovered over Matt and Tai's heads. Agumon and Gabumon looked uneasy.

"Wait, you sure about this?" Gabumon asked, extremely worried.

"What if that prophecy's all wrong?" Agumon added.

"You guys want a miracle to happen or not?" Tai asked.

"Yeah. Miracles require a little faith. Scared, Tai?"

"No, not at all. How about you, Matt?"

"Course not. Piece of cake. But maybe I'll just hang on to you to make sure you don't chicken out or anything." Matt held on to Tai's hand, and they stood together.

"Yeah, right. I'll do the same for you, buddy."

"One miracle..." started Angemon. "Coming up!" Angewomon finished. The angels threw their arrows. Gabumon and Agumon watched worriedly, and Kari, T.K., and the others watched, tense. The arrows found their marks in the boys' backs, and light exploded from where they stood. Even VenomMyotismon was startled by the force of the blast. Agumon back flips as he starts to

Warp-digivolve.

"Whoa! Agumon warp digivolve to..." The little digimon was surrounded in fire as he jumped from one digivolution to the next, faster than ever. From Agumon to Greymon, to MetalGreymon, the digivice propelled him further, into a new form. Standing straight on two feet, with a body made almost entirely of metal, the mega digimon slashed the air with the deadly metal claws at the end of each long metal arm.

"WarGreymon!"

Meanwhile, Gabumon was surrounded in a glowing blue light. The power that flowed through him caused him to do a back flip as well, before he, too, raced through his digivolutions.

"Gabumon warp digivolve to..." From Gabumon to Garurumon to WereGarurumon, he finally stopped at his new mega stage. The metal wolf tore through the air, extending wings that looked like razor sharp blades, then landed. Compartments opened up all over his body, shooting out beams of blue energy and missiles that formed pillars of ice out of the rocky ground.

"MetalGarurumon!"

"Whoa!" Matt exclaimed, in complete awe.

"Cool..." Tai stated.

_END SCENE _

…**As angels shot arrows of hope and light, creating a miracle to vanquish all evil…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Ha ha ha. Is that your best shot?" Apocalymon called out.

"You know you're beaten. Face it like a mon!" Matt cried.

"You think so, huh? Well, I may be beaten, but I won't go down that easily. I'll take you,

and both worlds with me!" Apocalymon laughed happily.

"What?" Tai shouted.

"You still haven't seen my ultimate attack. Total Annihilation!" Apocalymon shouted. The floating shape spins and shrinks until there is nothing left, then with a blinding flash, explodes with the force of an atomic bomb. The kids stand paralyzed with fear, lost in their own thoughts.

'He's gonna destroy everything!' Matt thought.

'I shoulda made out my will!' Joe thought.

"I'm too good-looking to go!" Mimi cried.

"I want my mommy!" T.K. whimpered.

"There must be a solution!" Izzy exclaimed.

"We won't give up!" Matt affirmed.

"We're stronger than he is." Tai declared.

"We're a team." Joe added.

"It's destiny." Sora continued.

"After all..." Kari started.

"We're the digi-destined!" the kids all shouted. Their digivices began to glow, then shot out arrows of light. Each arrow formed one side of two squares. The two squares joined together around

Apocalymon's spinning explosion, forming a transparent box around it. The box then spun and shrunk, until it destroyed itself, and its dangerous contents, in a blast of light.

"What was that?" WarGreymon asked.

"I'm not sure." MetalGarurumon replied.

"What happened to the explosion?" T.K. asked, bewildered.

"It was completely contained by the power of our digivices!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Then it's over! We actually won!" Tai stated excitedly.

"Looks that way!" Matt added.

"Excuse me while I throw up." Joe declared.

"I guess we saved the world." Sora said.

"Mmmm hmmm!" finished Kari.

_END SCENE _

…**Alas, the miracle was not enough to save the fates of the two different worlds…**

…**A darker evil than the undead king came forth wreaking havoc for all to see…**

…**The Eight came together in a bright storm of light, bringing peace to all…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Run for your lives! It's the evil Digimon Emperor!" Digimon ran away, but some Digimon got hit with small black rings.

"That was close!" Gatomon stated as she avoided a black ring. Then, a Unimon came up and attacked her.

_END SCENE _

…**Four cycles passed on and trouble was once more stirred in the world of data…**

_FLASH SECNE _

Somewhere in the digiworld…

"Tai, help! TAI!!!" Agumon shouted. Tai saw the call on his digivice. "Huh?" Tai asked confused.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Agumon!" Tai exclaimed running to him.

"Tai? You're here!" "You've got to digivolve!"

"That's why I need your help. I can't digivolve."

"What, did you forget how? It's just like riding a bicycle. Now start peddling and digivolve!"

"It's no use. Not while I have the dark digivice. There's no way he can digivolve." The Digimon Emperor stated triumphantly.

"Move your tails!" Gatomon told them.

"We're gonna need some more help. I better call the others!"

_END SCENE _

…**The heart of fire fought this great evil but was defeated by the hidden friend…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Kari's in trouble! You want courage? I'll show you! DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!" Davis shouted, holding out the digiegg of courage.

"Veemon, armour digivolve to...Flamedramon! The fire of courage!" Veemon cried.

"Armour digivolve?" Tai asked confused.

"Whoa, what's that?" Davis asked bewildered.

"I am Flamedramon. As Veemon, I used the digiegg of courage to armour digivolve. My 'Fire Rocket' attack will charbroil the enemy like a well-done steak!"

_FLASH SCENE _

"I beg your pardon, but in order for us to digivolve, you must say 'Digiarmour Energize'" Hawkmon stated.

"DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!" shouted Cody and Yolei.

"Hawkmon, armour digivolve to...Halsemon: The wings of Love!" there was a pause, "I am an armour digimon. As Hawkmon, I use the digiegg of Love to armour digivolve. I use my tempest wing attack to defeat my enemies."

"Armadillomon armour digivolve to...Digmon: The drill of Power!" pause, "I, too, am an armour digimon. As Armadillomon, I use the digiegg of Knowledge to armour digivolve."

_FLASH SCENE _

"I'm not sure, but it looks like one of the crests we used to have in the old days!"

"You're right, TK! And it has to crest of kindness on it!" Kari added.

"Why is it coming to me?" Ken asked.

"Because it belongs to you, Ken. It's your crest of kindness." Wormmon said to Ken.

"But there must be some mistake. I've been any thing BUT kind!"

"That's what Wizardmon meant when he said 'Kindness will release the Golden Radiance!' Ken must be the key to unlocking its power!" Gatomon declared.

"I knew deep inside you were kind." Wormmon said to Ken.

"Wormmon, I'm sorry. Don't go. You're my best friend."

"You're my best friend, too. Goodbye, Ken." Ken cried and Wormmon was deleted. His data flied into the wind.

"Wormmon, no!"

"He's gone, Ken." T.K. said solemnly.

"He can't be! Wormmon's gone. Just like my brother. I was helpless to save him, now I can't save Wormmon, either! Why do I keep losing people? I came to the Digital World to get away from all those feelings, but I just can't escape!"

"Oh!" Davis exclaimed. Davis thought of Ken's parents.

"Ken, we miss you." Mr. Ichijoiji stated.

"There are still people who love you!" Davis shouted.

"I gotta go." Ken stated. Ken walked away sadly.

"Don't walk away from your problems! Let us help you, Ken! You're a DigiDestined! Join us!" Davis called out. Ken continued to walk away, crying.

"I wonder where he's going. I hope he'll be okay." Cody said.

_END SCENE _

…**Four more lights of miracles, purity, faith, and kindness were then chosen…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Digieggs!" Kari cried happily.

"Great! What do we do now? Sit around and wait for new kids to come along so a new digimon will be born?" T.K. asked sarcastically.

"But there aren't any digidestined left!" Kari protested.

"What are those symbols on the front of them?" T.K. asked.

"One of them is the crest of Light." Kari stated. "Huh?" asked T.K.

"And the other one has the crest of Hope! Wow, come on!" Kari told T.K.

"You're right!" T.K. replied. "Then these digieggs must belong to the two of you!"

"Pick them up, you guys!" Patamon encouraged.

"Yeah, but..." T.K. started. "If you don't try, you'll never know!"

"But we've already got our digimon!" Kari protested. "Just do it!"

"Gatomon's right!" T.K. stated. "Hmm." Kari huffed.

"The digivices are glowing!" T.K. said. The old digivices transform into the new model.

"These are the same digivices that the new kids have!"

"Yeah!" T.K. stated. T.K. and Kari picked up the digieggs.

"Wow, it's light!" Kari exclaimed. "I'm stronger than I thought!" T.K. cried.

"Patamon, armour digivolve to...Pegasusmon: Flying Hope!"

"Gatomon, armour digivolve to...Nefertimon: The Angel of Light!"

_END SCENE _

…**As the two of hope and light were renewed in the armored essence of life…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"We did it guys!" Yolei cheered to everyone.

"You hear that? All the digidestined of the world with the power of the digivice, we defeated MalyoMyotismon! We all did it together!" Davis shouted as all the digidestined cheered.

"I can't believe that it's finally over." Sora declared.

"Yeah but look at all of the lives that were lost to get here." T.K. stated solemnly.

"Anyways, let's not think about that now. I'm sure that they wouldn't want us to be sad and depressed on this day when we should be celebrating." Joe declared.

"Right guys, even though I never met them, I have to agree." Catherine stated.

"Well come on then, we have a victory to celebrate!" Matt shouted. All the digidestined followed suit, cheering. Mimi trailed behind, staring up at the sky.

"Tai… where are you? I miss you so much."

_END SCENE _

…**This new power combined with the Chosen Ones' power and good won again…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"I have to hand it to TK. He really risked himself to save Patamon. What a friend."

"Would you risk yourself to save me if I was in trouble, Davis?"

"Well...maybe..."

"Maybe? MAYBE? What about definitely?"

"Oh, you are going to make me cry. If you really want a test of your friendship, I'll be happy to give you one. Prepare for the fight of your life! MetalGreymon!" Ken commanded.

"Don't listen to him, MetalGreymon! Don't you recognize me?"

"Garurumon and I are going to try and get those rings off MetalGreymon's arm."

"Squash them like a bug! Go!" shouted the Digimon Emperor.

"Garurumon, that was close, but we've got to attack him with all of our strength."

"Hmm...I'm afraid of hurting MetalGreymon!"

"We have no choice! If we don't use all our strength, he'll crush us like grapes! Isn't that right, Tai?" Matt asked looking at Tai.

"Hmm! Go get him!"

"But Matt..." Davis protested. Matt and Garurumon jumped up to remove the dark spiral.

"It's time to call in the cavalry! DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!" Cody shouted.

"Armadillomon, Armour digivolve to...Digmon: The Drill of Power!"

"DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!" Kari cried out.

"Gatomon, armour digivolve to...Nefertimon: The Angel of Light!"

"Gold Rush!" "Rosetta Stone!" "Tempest Wing!"

"Stop, you'll hurt him!" Tai protested.

"Sorry." Halsemon stated.

"You did what you had to. Don't worry about it." Tai said. Matt and Garurumon jumped once again to remove the dark ring, unsuccessfully.

"HAHAHA! It's no use you digitwerps. My new and improved Dark Spiral poisons the digimon with evil until it is completely evil. You can't save your precious little Agumon Tai. He's mine now!" He continued to laugh evilly as the digidestined held Tai back from attacking the Digimon Emperor.

"You're getting annoying!" roared MetalGreymon.

"Howling Blaster!"

"MetalGreymon, I'm sorry! We're only doing this out of friendship!" Matt said.

"Davis, help us!" Tai pleaded with Davis.

"Come on, Davis, aren't you going to help them fight?" Flamedramon asked.

"I just can't do it! There's a chance I'll hurt MetalGreymon!"

"You don't know about Friendship!" Flamdramon declared as he dedigivolved into Veemon.

"Davis, you have to fight! How can you just stand there and let him try to hurt me?"

"Lay off! What do you want? I don't want to hurt anybody!" Davis snapped.

"This isn't about what you want to do! It's about the things you have to do for friendship!"

"Friendship..." Davis trailed off.

"Agumon, don't worry...we're going to try one more time to remove the dark ring!"

"Matt, Garurumon, do your best!" Tai encouraged them.

Their digimon struggled on, WereGarurumon and Pegasusmon struggling to remove the ring from SkullGreymon. They continued to attack it and pull at it when they weren't dodging attacks.

"Shooting Star!" "Garuru kick!" howled the wolf-like digimon. The attacks hit the ring and they could all see it crack. Still the Digimon Emperor laughed on.

"Come on Davis, join them. I know that we have to attack a friend, but it's important that we save Agumon. I know that he'll understand once we save him. They need you." pleaded Tai. Davis looked up at his hero uncertainly.

'Matt and Tai have such a deep bond with their digimon...one deeper than I would have ever imagined! It must have taken Tai a lot to say we had no other choice than to fight MetalGreymon!' Davis thought to himself as Metalgreymon's claw came down on Veemon.

"I got you, Veemon!" Patamon cried. "I owe you one!" "Don't worry, I'm keeping track!"

"Veemon, you okay?" Davis asked concerned.

"He is, but no thanks to you! Patamon risked his life to save Veemon, and all you did was sit there and watch!" T.K. interjected.

"T.K., I..." he paused, 'Now I'm beginning to understand what makes friendship so powerful! You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to protect them, because they would do the same for you!' "VEEMON, I'M YOUR FRIEND!" His digvice began to react.

"Huh? This is new!" Davis said looking down.

"His D3 is responding to the new digiegg!" Cody said. The new Digiegg flew over to Davis.

"What's it doing?" Kari asked.

"Look, it stopped right in front of you! It's your digiegg of Friendship!"

"My digiegg of Friendship?" Davis asked.

"Davis already has the digiegg of Courage, so how can he have another one? This means that Veemon can become twice as powerful! We can win now!" Cody declared.

"Hey, that's cool!" Veemon stated.

"Hey, let's give it a try! DIGIARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"Veemon, armour digivolve to...Raidramon: The Storm of Friendship!" pause, "I am Raidramon! As Veemon, I use the digiegg of Friendship to armour digivolve. My blue thunder and electric bite attacks annihilate my enemies!"

"Finally, someone who can stand up to the emperor: Raidramon!" Cody added.

"Show 'em who's in charge here!" ordered the Digimon Emperor. MetalGreymon roared.

"Blue Thunder!" "Gotcha!" Davis shouted. The blue thunder hit MetalGreymon, but nothing happened. The spiral didn't even crack.

"It's no use! It won't come off!" Matt cried.

"Your weak attempts make me laugh. Give up yet?" laughed the Digimon Emperor.

"There's got to be a way to get through to MetalGreymon! Somehow!" Tai said.

"Don't worry, Tai. We'll get him back for you! Right, Garurumon?"

"Rrrrright!"

"Davis, this is a team effort. We're going to attack him at the same time. We need you!"

"I'm not sure..."

"Not sure?? This time, you're going to do things the right way!" T.K. argued.

"How can I?"

"If we must, we'll fight together!" Raidramon answered.

"You're right! All this time, I've been worrying about what's best for me, not the team. Well, you can count on me, now!" Davis declared, finally sure of himself.

"Let's go, now!" Matt ordered.

"Right! Raidramon, give 'em your best shot!"

"Good luck, guys!" Tai stated.

"Howling Blaster!" "Blue Thunder!" both Raidramon and Garurumon's attacks hit the dark spiral. After a second, it came off. Still, MetalGreymon did not react.

"You fools. Did you not hear what I said?! It's too late; your digimon is mine now! Mine!" They all watched in horror as the now spiral free MetalGreymon attacked once more, knocking Raidramon away. He got back up and with the other digimon, surrounded MetalGreymon.

"Tai, I know that you don't want to, but you have to make the decision now. What should we do? The Emperor's right, it's too late for Agumon now. Can't you see it in his eyes? The poison reached his heart. He's evil now," stated Matt. Tai nodded bravely.

"You're right Matt. As much as I hate to admit it, we have no choice. We have to destroy him, but how? How are we going to destroy him?"

"Tai, this e-mail just came in from Izzy. He knows about the new Dark Spiral. He has a solution and you need to make a choice. I don't think you're going to like it." exclaimed Cody.

_Tai,_

_You __have to __get him to dedigivolve to Agumon and then point your crest at him. That way he will die, but if you do this, remember Tai, he will not go back to an egg. He was far too evil__; his data's been corrupted by the Emperor. T__he farm wouldn't be able to handle him__ and to make sure that he doesn't get corrupted again, he won't be rehatched__. You will lose your Agumon forever. It's your choice._

_Izzy._

"Argh!! I don't know, I don't know! I don't want to lose Agumon, but we'll never get him back anyway. There really is no other way. Guys, make him dedigivolve." A torn Tai watched as the digimon attacked MetalGreymon simultaneously, causing him to dedigivolve into Agumon.

"Tai," he heard the familiar voice call. He ran to Agumon.

"Tai, you have to do it. The poison's almost done. I can't fight it for much longer. I'll hold it back and while I do, you have to do it. I know that I won't come back. Don't worry, it was meant to be. Your destiny's going to be even greater. You haven't started on your journey yet. Trust me, all of this it had to happen. So, do this, for yourself, the world, and me. Please." came the weak voice of Agumon.

Tai looked at his digimon, his anguish clear on his face. He slowly reached for his crest, his eyes never leaving the face of his smiling digimon as he pointed it towards him. A ray of light shot out of the crest, hitting the digimon and causing its data to shatter into a million pieces. The only sound that could be heard was the anguished cry of the great leader of the first digidestined.

_END SCENE _

…**Then in a moment of evil and true sacrifice, the Heart of fire lost his Protector…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Tai?" Kari asked, knocking on his bedroom door. They had moved into a condo a few months ago and now each had their own room. Still, Kari wished that they shared a room for her brother hadn't come out of his room since Agumon died. It had been two weeks and he hadn't moved.

"Tai, we know you're in there. Please, just come out." Mimi begged. Still, there was no answer. The digidestined looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Mimi tried the handle and found that it was unlocked. She sighed, took a deep breath, and then went in.

"Tai?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. Tai didn't react. He continued to stare at the wall in front of him as he sat on the middle of his bed.

"Tai, you have to come out sometime." Mimi stated softly, placing her hand on his shoulder. Tai shook his head furiously, still staring ahead.

"Why not?" Mimi asked, genuinely curious.

"If I go out there, then that means I'm accepting that Agumon's gone. That means that I'm willing to go on without him and I'm not ready for that."

"Tai, leaving this room may mean you're accepting that Agumon's gone, but that doesn't mean you're willing to move on. That takes a lot more time to heal from." T.K. stated, he had just entered the room with Kari. The other kids had decided to leave so they didn't crowd him.

"T.K.'s right. Leaving this room is only saying that you know that Agumon's gone. You don't have to be ready to move on, you have every right not to." Kari stated.

"They're right. So Tai, please, can you come out? At least eat something. You've lost too much weight. And no offense, but you need a shower. You stink!" exclaimed Mimi, wrinkling her nose.

"All right, I guess I can come out. But only to shower and eat. Then, I'm coming back here."

_FLASH SCENE _

In his room, Taichi Kamiya sat on his bed staring off into space.

'My fault… I killed him… It was my fault… I could have saved him…'

The thoughts continued to run through his head and as each thought repeated, Tai failed to notice that a fog entered his room with black swirls. As the thoughts continued to repeat, he fell further and further into the spiral of darkness.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Tai, are you okay?" Mimi asked. She was in his room again, sitting down next to him. Over the past five months since Agumon's death Tai had slightly improved. He left his room to go to school, eat, and shower, but he didn't do much else. He had even quit soccer.

"Hey Mimi. I'm fine." Tai stated. They sat there in a comfortable silence, simply basking in each other's presence. Though Tai had lost some weight, he still looked gorgeous to Mimi. Still, there was sadness in his eyes and Mimi desperately wanted to take that away.

"So do you want to talk about Agu-" Tai interrupted her.

"I don't want to talk about it." Tai stated through grit teeth.

"But Tai, if you don't get it out-" Mimi protested.

"I said I don't want to talk about it. You should go." Tai interrupted.

"Tai, I-" "Just GO!" Tai shouted. Mimi nodded, holding back her tears.

"Okay. I'm sorry. Bye Tai." 'I love you' she thought as she left.

_FLASH SCENE _

Tai stared blankly at the wall before him. He had yelled once more at Mimi and made her cry for the millionth time, he and Sora had basically broken up and Agu- Agumon was still dead. He couldn't take it anymore. He was in pain and in the process he was hurting everyone he cared about.

He had to get out of here. He had been planning it for months, debating whether or not he should go. He couldn't handle it here anymore. He couldn't stop hurting his friends. It was better if he left. He wouldn't be hurting them anymore and he could forget all of those painful memories of Agumon. Every time he saw them he was reminded. There were too many reminders. Too many reminders telling him that it was all his fault. He had to leave.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Tai?" Kari asked, knocking on Tai's door. It had been ten months since the "accident" as everyone now called it and Tai had yet to come out of his shell. Ken, after coming back to the good side, had come here asking Tai for forgiveness and Tai had even given it to him. Everyone had been shocked, including Ken. It had made Ken feel even guiltier. Still, nobody could understand the position that Tai was in. But, they all wanted to help.

Kari sighed. He still wasn't answering. Hoping beyond hope, she tried the door. To her great shock, it was unlocked. She opened the door and went in. To her even greater shock, the room was empty. Most of Tai's belongings were still there, but everything was packed neatly and Tai's most precious things like his goggles, pictures of the digidestined, etc. were all gone. Without knowing, Kari began to run, tears streaming down her face. She had no idea where she was running until she finally burst through a door, shocking all ten people in the room.

"He's gone!" Kari stated before breaking down in heart wrenching sobs.

_END SCENE _

…**From here on, the Heart of fire fell into a spiral of darkness and disappeared…**

_FLASH SCENE _

It had been eleven months since Tai had disappeared and there was still no sign of him. The digidestined had tried everything. They had even tried to track his digivice, but every time a signal was found, by the time they managed to get there, he was already gone. Traveling to the places he had been difficult as well.

Until Izzy had come up with the ingenious idea of using the digiports, everyone had been chipping in their allowances, savings, and job earnings to send one of them to where a clue lead them or a signal had been found. Usually, it was Mimi, Kari, or Sora who went as they were the people who were closest to him.

In the beginning, when Tai left… it was been utter chaos. After Tai left, the digidestined crumbled. Tai had always been the solid leader even though technically Davis was in charge. Tai had kept them glued together and focused on their goal. When he left, they had wandered for a while, trying to hold together.

After the loss of Agumon, Ken didn't take any major actions. Knowing this, Davis, in a flurry of anger and pain, decided to exact revenge on the Digimon Emperor for all of the suffering he had caused the digidestined, but especially, his hero: Tai, to go through. That had been the first mistake.

Afterwards, the digidestined had exploded into arguments and split up. Matt, Joe, and Izzy had seriously reprimanded Davis for making such a careless decision. Then the older guys had begun to blame each other for letting this happen. During that, T.K. in his fury of them, but especially his crush Kari, nearly getting killed had started a screaming match with Davis that had turned to blows.

Davis had made the first move and T.K. in his shock and unwillingness to hurt a friend had done nothing until Davis hit him again. It had taken Joe, Izzy, Matt, and Cody to separate them. T.K. had left in his anger with Kari going after him. After that, the digidesinted had all gone their separate ways in groups of two.

_END SCENE _

…**The great Leader gone, history repeats and the Twelve that shined brightly, dim…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"NO Raidramon!" Davis cried as the digimon fell, dedigivolving all the way down to his in- training form of DemiVeemon. Davis, Ken and Stingmon gathered around the little blue ball.

"Are you okay?" Davis asked, cradling the little digimon.

"I'll be fine." The digimon paused, "Uh… Davis, I don't feel so good." The little digimon then proceeded to pass out in Davis' arms.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Why you little pixie! How dare you get in the way of things?" shouted BlackWarGreymon.

"You leave those digidestined alone you big bully!" shouted the little digimon.

"Well then, how about I pick on you?" the evil digimon attacked the little digimon full blast and the little digimon disappeared in a storm of data.

"Pixiemon, no!" Kari shouted, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. T.K. gathered Kari in his arms as they and their digimon mourned the loss of another friend.

_FLASH SCENE _

"AGH!!!" shouted Matt and Sora as they, Garudamon, and MetalGarurumon were thrown back by the force of BlackWarGreymon's attack. Both digimon dedigivolved to their rookie forms.

'He's too strong. None of us can defeat him. If only Tai were here, he'd know what to do.'

_FLASH SCENE _

"Ankylomon! Aquilamon! Look out!" Yolei shouted as she watched the attack come towards them. The two digimon were thrown back as their owners ran towards them.

"Are you guys okay?" Cody asked softly. The digimon nodded, getting up.

"Yea, we're fine. But I don't know how much longer we're going to last like this."

_FLASH SCENE _

"Oh my God! Look at all of this destruction." Joe exclaimed.

"An entire village… completely wiped out. All of those Koromon… it's like Agumon all over again." Izzy stated; his mind almost in a state of numb.

"Yea, but this time, it's worse. This isn't the first village they've ransacked. The Yokomon village, the Geckomon city, the Tsunomon town, the Tokomon village… they're targeting places that are close to us and will hurt us the most." Joe nodded.

"Yea and there's nothing the two of us can do to stop it." Izzy replied.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Lilymon, look out!" Mimi cried as fear swept down her spine.

"AGH!" cried the digimon as it was thrown down to the ground by the blow.

"Lilymon, please be careful. It's just the two of us now and these guys are strong. I can't afford to lose you too." Mimi pleaded with her digimon.

"I know Mimi." Lilymon replied, knowing full well who the other loss was. After losing Tai, Mimi had fallen into a deep depression. She began to isolate herself from the group when Tai had disappeared. Most of them had. They had separated off into their pairs, but with Tai gone, Mimi had had no one to turn to, no one to comfort her. Now, the digidestined were no longer a group, unified as one, they were more like teams of 4 that never really got anywhere, except for Mimi that is. She was a team of two: her and Lilymon. All she had now was herself and Lilymon.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Kari! Gatomon! Are you guys okay?" T.K. asked, rushing up to where they were tied. He quickly untied them, trying to wake them up.

"Kari, wake up! Kari, wake up! Please!" T.K. begged. By now, Davis had arrived on the scene and was attempting to wake up Gatomon as well.

"Kari, come on, you have to wake up! I-I didn't e-even get a c-chance to tell you… Please Kari, don't leave me, not like this, not now." T.K. pleaded, sobbing as he held her close.

_END SCENE _

…**The Ones left behind face greater trials and suffer losses beyond the imagination…**

_FLASH SCENE _

The digidestined had continued this way, separate and lost, losing hope, until Kari and Gatomon's severe injury had brought them together again. Now, they understood that it was important for them to be together as one team. If they weren't together, they couldn't help each other out and prevent them from making mistakes with grave consequences. They had suffered countless losses the past two years, in their separate groups, so together; they were going to turn the tide.

They were now under the combined leadership of Matt and Davis. Still, it was nothing compared to Tai's leadership and his absence left a heavy presence on their team. Agumon's death was also a heavy casualty for he had been the most powerful digimon on their side, along with Gabumon. They had all been forced to grow up a little faster and they were learning now.

However, things were starting to look up. The past twenty one months since Agumon's death had been full of great loss and suffering on the part of the digidestined and their friends, but now that they were all one team and together again, they were turning their losing streak around.

Outside of school and the digiworld, they had been working like slaves to raise money. All of their money went to finding Tai. Little things like buying the latest fashions, the latest games, the latest music, etc., were no longer important when compared to finding Tai. They worked hard to find any clues as to where Tai could have possibly disappeared to.

However, the digidestined had searched and searched and found no sign of him anywhere. Izzy, Yolei, and Cody had even put their brains together and hacked into the Odaiba Airport database, but no one under the name of Taichi Kamiya had purchased a ticket. They hadn't even been able to find a code name of some sort. Even his digivice had stopped giving off signals. Tai must have figured it out and shut it off; at least, that's what they hoped. Any alternative was not an option.

_END SCENE _

…**The innocence present in Them is replaced by maturity and the truth of life…**

_FLASH SCENE _

Eighteen year old Tai turned a corner and threw himself into an alley. He quickly pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff, soothing his nerves. He didn't know if he could run anymore. He was sick and tired of all of these gangs and thugs chasing after him, trying to beat him up. In the beginning, he had been too tired and hungry to fight back. Now, that he had learned the ropes and found a place to stay in; he had toughened up and learned how to survive. People no longer picked on him anymore, at least not in small groups.

Still, he wished that he had learned how to survive earlier. If only he had been stronger. If he had been strong enough then, then he could have saved he could have saved those kids… he could have saved Agumon. Tai shook his head. He wouldn't think of that. He refused to think of that. All of that stuff, including his memories were all locked away in a box that he didn't want, but couldn't seem to let go of.

He wouldn't think on that anymore. He had left the place behind four years ago and he wasn't going back. He had even managed to make a place for himself, renting a box of an apartment and working at a warehouse, loading and unloading trucks. He made enough to pay the rent and eat one or two meals a day. That was enough for him.

In his free time when he wasn't sleeping, he spent the time working out, pushing his body to its limits until he could think of nothing but the pain. Those were the time that he liked best because it was in those times that he could truly forget those kids… and Agumon.

He sighed. He was doing it again, he was thinking of those kids and Him. He had sworn he wouldn't do that. Still, he couldn't help remembering the screams of the kids and the pleading looks in their eyes. It was all his fault that they were dead… those kids and Him… all his fault.

"Hey kid. Hey kid!" a man shouted at Tai. Tai threw out his cigarette and look up. An elderly man with blondish white hair and grey eyes was standing in front of him with a dog.

"You all right, son?" the man asked concerned, Tai smiled bitterly.

"I'm not your son old man." Tai replied rudely. The dog growled. The man pet it, calmingly.

"Well kid, I ought to teach you some manners."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize for my rudeness. How about yes sir, I'm quite all right. Now leave me alone!" Tai snapped at him before walking away. The man and dog stood there, watching him.

"Now there's a good kid who needs help Rawley. He's hurting under there, I can see it."

_END SCENE _

…**The lost One suffers alone and in darkness, but then His salvation comes…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Why is it coming to me?" Ken asked.

"Because it belongs to you, Ken. It's your crest of kindness." Wormmon said to Ken.

"But there must be some mistake. I've been any thing BUT kind!"

"That's what Wizardmon meant when he said 'Kindness will release the Golden Radiance!' Ken must be the key to unlocking its power!" Gatomon declared.

"I knew deep inside you were kind." Wormmon said to Ken.

"Wormmon, I'm sorry. Don't go. You're my best friend."

"You're my best friend, too. Goodbye, Ken." Ken cried and Wormmon was deleted. His data flied into the wind.

'Never again,' swore Ken, 'I'll never do anything like this ever again. It's my fault that this happened and I'm going to fix it. I'm going to find Wormmon again and then we're going to fix this.'

_END SCENE _

…**The hidden Friend, once lost to darkness, is saved by the One sent to protect him…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Control Spires started springing up all over the world! Ken figured out that Arukenimon put them there and opened all the digi-ports too, allowing Digimon to come and go as they pleased. Then Gennai showed up looking young, and not too shabby I might add. He brought us a powerful digi-core from Azulongmon and told us we have to go around the world destroying Control Spires and teaming up with other Digi-Destined to send the Digimon through the digi-ports back where they belong." Kari summarized.

_FLASH SCENE _

"This is our stop, everyone. Ken and I will stay here in Paris to organize the French resistance.

"Vive la France!" shouted Ken.

"Good luck, guys." The others told them as they went off in their own directions.

_FLASH SCENE _

"You can get great deals here in Hong Kong. No wonder the Chinese wanted in back so bad." stated Tentomon. Izzy and Davis laughed.

"Come one guys. We're supposed to meet a digidestined here named Mary Campbell."

"Yes sir, Izzy sir. Hmm… I don't know much, but Mary doesn't sound much like a Chinese name. Am I right Izzy?" Davis said.

"Yes Davis, I believe that she's an American who is currently studying here in Hong Kong." Izzy replied. Davis and their digimon nodded in understanding.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Why do they call this place 'Down Under?'" Cody asked, curious.

"I don't know. I don't speak Australian." Joe replied.

_FLASH SCENE _

"Great. Everyone else is warm and cozy while we're in the middle of a Moscow blizzard." Sora complained, shivering despite her thick coat and multiple layers.

"Here," Matt stated as he placed his jacket over her. Sora protested.

"Matt, I can't take your jacket. It's too cold for you."

"No, don't worry about me Sora, I brought an extra." Matt stated, showing it to her.

"Oh, thanks Matt, you're the best."

_FLASH SCENE _

"Miami, here I come!" shouted an over excited T.K.

"But first, we're supposed to hook up with Michael somewhere around here." Mimi.

"Mimi, T.K., Kari, over here!" Michael called out, waving.

"Hey, Michael!" the three of them replied.

"I sure hope you guys like to fly. Mimi and Kari, you guys take the helicopter to Mexico."

"Gotcha." Mimi said smiling.

"T.K., you and I are taking the Red Eye to New York."

_END SCENE _

…**Where once there were only Eight, is now abundance, but Eleven shine brightest…**

_FLASH SCENE _

"Light? That's it! You guys, we need to use our digivices and the eleven of us need to add our crests!" Izzy exclaimed. Davis nodded.

"Right," Davis then spoke into his digivice, "digidestined of the world, use your digivices. Point them at MalyoMyotismon and believe. Put your heart into it, everyone!" One by one, beams of light began to shoot out and hit MalyoMyotismon. As each beam hit him, the digimon cried out in pain.

"It's working!" Sora stated, amazed.

"Great, now we need to give our crests to the barrier."

"Crest of Knowledge!" "Crest of Kindness!" "Crest of Miracles!" "Crest of Hope!"

"Crest of Light!" "Crest of Sincerity!" "Crest of Love!" "Crest of Reliability!"

"Crest of Purity!" "Crest of Friendship!" "Crest of Faith!" The eleven crests shot out from the hearts of the 11 digidestined, forming a cloud of light that hit MalyoMyotismon.

"AHH!" the evil digimon cried out before he disappeared into millions of data.

"We did it guys!" Yolei cheered to everyone.

"You hear that? All the digidestined of the world with the power of the digivice, we defeated MalyoMyotismon! We all did it together!" Davis shouted as all the digidestined cheered.

"I can't believe that it's finally over." Sora declared.

"Yeah but look at all of the lives that were lost to get here." T.K. stated solemnly.

"Anyways, let's not think about that now. I'm sure that they wouldn't want us to be sad and depressed on this day when we should be celebrating." Joe declared.

"Right guys, even though I never met them, I have to agree." Catherine stated.

"Well come on then, we have a victory to celebrate!" Matt shouted. All the digidestined followed suit, cheering. Mimi trailed behind, staring up at the sky.

"Tai… where are you? I miss you so much."

_END SCENE _

…**Eleven and abundance combine in a storm of light and peace reigns once more.**


	3. Chapter 1: Moving On

CHAPTER 1: Moving On

In the suburbs, Beverly Hills, California (mid-July)

The world had changed so much in the last few years. After the accident, things had sort of fallen apart for a time, and then they'd slowly come back together after a long while. Now, things were almost normal. They were together, they were all successful, and she was happily engaged to the most wonderful man in the world, well the second most. The most wonderful man in the world was her brother, her best friend in her time of need, her shelter, her refuge, and her strength. Now, he was gone.

He had left without so much as a goodbye ten months after the accident. They had triedto find him, but what good could a group of kids do? When they'd all come to America, they'd come in the hopes that maybe they'd be able to find him, but it had already been twelve years since he'd left. They didn't know what he looked like anymore and they didn't know his new name, his new identity.

So, they'd all forced themselves to settle in and move on, give up, but she could never do that. Neither could Mimi. Neither one of them wanted to give up on him. They missed him too much. After all, they'd both been so close to him, Sora too, but she was so wrapped up in Matt now that it was like he'd never been there.

Her parents had died right after high school and she had no one left. She wanted to find her brother. She wanted her most favorite guy in the world to walk her down the aisle, but most of all, she just wanted him to be there, at her shining moment, when she married the guy she loved. She sighed. She shouldn't have been thinking these things. The others had moved on, why couldn't she?

Ken had become a successful director and he and Yolei were happily married. In the beginning, Ken had taken it the hardest, blaming himself because he was the one who had created the Dark Spirals and the Dark Rings. To be honest with herself; Kari was sure that initially, everyone had blamed him. However, as time went on, Wormmon died, and they learned that Ken didn't know that the digiworld was real, they could no longer blame him. That had been about eight months after Agumon had died.

Still, even when they had all forgiven him, including Tai, no one could stop him from blaming himself. When Tai disappeared two months after Ken had turned, it had taken Yolei and Wormmon a lot of time to finally convince Ken that it wasn't his fault. This had triggered a budding relationship between Ken and Yolei.

Initially, when Tai had disappeared, they had spent four months monitoring the digiworld while searching for Tai. However, about four months into their search, Davis had gone on a suicide mission of revenge. The others had all followed him to keep him out of trouble. It had been a trap. They had been surrounded under a cliff and if it hadn't been for the hordes of friendly digimon nearby and one of the digimon accidentally breaking the control tower, they all would have died.

The digidestined had erupted into fights after that and had broken up: Matt with Sora, Yolei with Cody, Joe with Izzy, Davis and Ken, T.K. with Kari, and Mimi by herself. Kari had asked Mimi to join her and T.K. but she had declined saying that she needed time alone. They had separated for 20 months.

Then, Kari and Gatomon had gotten into trouble and been severely poisoned. This had brought all the digidestined back together at Gennai's house, watching over her. From then on, they had never parted ways. They learned that they worked best as one big team. After two years of loss a suffering starting with Tai's disappearance, things had started to look up. One year later, they had defeated MalyoMyotismon and saved the digiworld and Earth.

Kari shook her head, what was she thinking about before? Ken and Yolei. The couple got together at the end of the second war which was three years after Tai disappeared. They had been spending a lot of time together simply because Yolei refused to let Ken wallow in his guilt. At first, Ken had thought that she was just like the other fan girls that followed him around, but with time, they fell in love.

Ken finally got the guts to ask her out at the end of the war when they were celebrating their victory. It had been very cute. Everyone had known by now that the two liked each other and so they had encouraged Ken to ask her out. He had been too shy to do so until the celebration party. He then gave her flowers and in front of everyone including the digidestined from other parts of the world, had asked her to be his girlfriend.

It had been very cute to see the boy genius turn bright red as he stuttered through his question and then turn even brighter when she kissed his cheek and said yes. After that, they had become the golden couple of the digidestined. He proposed about six years later on Valentine's Day when they were both 20. In June of that year, Ken got a job offer as a director and so the two moved to Los Angeles. They got married two years later on July 23rd, 2005 in a celebrity wedding.

Now, their one-year anniversary was coming up and Ken had a surprise for her. Even though she had majored in psychology, Yolei stayed at home as the typical housewife and hopefully soon to be full-time mom. To show his appreciation of Yolei giving up her job, Ken had planned a day full of surprises just for Yolei and everyone else was in on it but her.

Cody was now an ENT doctor and was known world wide for creating an artificial ear that restored the hearing of many people and helped the elderly to hear once more. Being the youngest, of the group, he had probably been the most scarred in the sense that he grew up at an earlier age than the rest of them. Still, he was able to move on and be successful.

Out of the others, Cody had been probably the least affected by Agumon's death and Tai's disappearance because he was young and was not close to them. Therefore, the losses had been far less personal for him. He had had the easiest time adjusting then, but when they began to lose digimon friends and witness death, Cody as the youngest, had been severely scarred.

He hadn't understood why digimon were willing to die for them and why they had to at times kill enemy digimon. It had been hard to explain to him and the loss of innocence from that had been visible to everyone, especially Cody's family. The constant support from the others and Armadillomon had been the only thing that had helped him through it.

If they hadn't all been there to support each other, Kari doubted that any of them would have survived. The two years of separation had taught them that. They needed each other not only as a team, but also as a family.

Cody, with Davis, had been the last one of the group to move to the U.S. Even though all of the others had encouraged him to do so, he hadn't wanted to leave home. He finally came when he, Izzy, and Joe were offered a job by the United States Navy. Then he gave in and settled down in Lexington, Kentucky and dragged his roommate in Japan, Davis, with him.

Davis had obtained his dream of owning a chain of noodle restaurants and it was called "Motomiya Noodle." It was a place where the famous liked to go to eat and party at. It was really good to see him actually succeed in something other than soccer.

Davis had had a particularly hard time with Tai's disappearance because Tai had been his idol. He had become irrational and emotional. This had caused them a lot of trouble. It hadn't been his fault, but he blamed himself even now. He had never fully recovered from the losses that they had suffered on what had turned out to be a suicide mission that he had planned.

Adding to that, the way that he had recklessly gone into battle, he was very bitter. He probably changed the most in the sense that he was far more serious than he used to be and now he always thought before he acted. He often held a bitter tone when he spoke of Tai if he or the others ever did even mention him.

He had even gotten over his crush on Kari. He had learned to accept that she didn't feel the same way and he learned move on. Unfortunately, he became a sort of womanizer in the sense that he didn't have a relationship that was longer than three weeks. However, he was honest from the start with the women so he couldn't be blamed, nor could he be called a total jackass. Still, despite his slight maturity, he could be easily angered and emotional, no one could change that.

Joe was a world-renowned surgeon, his specialty being the three most vital organs: the brain, lungs, and the heart. Although Joe had missed Tai, he hadn't been quite as affected because he wasn't as close to him as some of the others and because he was the oldest, he healed the best out of them all.

As the oldest, he had learned to be the reliable and responsible one, helping the younger ones heal and get over the loss. It had been hard for him, being the strong anchor, but with Matt also doing this, the two of them had managed to hold it together along with the team.

Through this experience, Joe had learned just how much helping people seemed to fit him and how much he loved it. This was where his love for biology and science had been revitalized and his studies had improved even more making him practically a genius.

Because of his genius, he was able to finish up college early and go to med school. He managed to get accepted into John Hopkins Medical School and so on June 4th, 1998, Joe moved to Maryland. He and Mimi were the first of their group to go.

Izzy was now a computer scientist and he had a girlfriend, Mary Campbell, an intelligent astrophysicist who loved knowledge as much as Izzy. Putting the two of them in a room could give anyone a headache. After Tai left, Izzy had gone through a bout of depression as well, but he had managed to move past that like everyone else. They had all had to push aside their feelings about Tai's disappearance in order to save the digiworld.

Still, his hurt was visible as he and Tai had gotten close during junior high and freshman year. The pain had been visible when he had gone to China in December of 1996, and there he had met Mary, an American who had been in China studying abroad. She turned out to be a digidestined and they had instantly clicked. With her help, Izzy was able to heal from the pain of Tai's disappearance and Agumon's death.

Their relationship had been quite amusing as she was the one thing that could take Izzy away from his precious computer. She had him wrapped around her finger and she had been the one that had asked him out. That had been three years after they met. They had been e-mailing each other and Izzy was at Tokyo U in his final year at the ripe age of 19. Mary had finally managed to enroll in a school in Japan and on her first visit to him at his campus, she kissed him.

Izzy had been too stunned to do anything but gape at her like a fish. She giggled and asked him if it wasn't about time that they took the next step and try to have a dating relationship. She claimed that they had been avoiding it long enough and Izzy agreed still in his stupor.

Initially, they had a hard time with Izzy and Mary both busy with college. It got worse when they both went to the U.S. for grad school. Both got into Boston University. Still, they had managed to survive and now that they were both done with college and grad school, they were able to pursue their relationship. After six years, they were still going strong. In fact, Mary was waiting for Izzy to pop the question at any time now.

Matt was an astronaut, his band "The Teenage Wolves" had died out after Matt lost his talent to puberty. He also began to lost interest as well because his focus became more and more on Sora and finding Tai. He pursued her for a long time. It took him six years after Tai had disappeared to "get" Sora.

When Tai first disappeared, Sora had been heartbroken and very depressed. Although the two had technically broken up, she had always thought that they would eventually get back together. It had been a great shock to find out that he had disappeared.

She tried desperately to find him the first three years after he left. Sometimes, the others had to force her to rest because she always wore herself out. Throughout that time, Matt was there for her. Being in love with her, Matt forced her to take care of herself. About six months before the third anniversary of his disappearance, Matt asked her out and she had blatantly refused.

Eventually, as time went on, Sora began to heal. It had helped that they finally beat MalyoMyotismon and the worlds were in peace once more. She stopped crying all the time and she learned to live her life and move on. Throughout this time, Matt never left her side.

Four and a half years after Tai disappeared, in November, Matt asked again and Sora said no. This time however, she told him that she wasn't ready to move on from Tai to a serious relationship. She knew that Matt believed that she was the one for him so she told him that she was still on the rebound from a broken heart and couldn't give Matt a serious relationship. The answer gave him a lot of hope.

As more time passed, Sora continued to heal but said nothing to Matt about dating. Finally, in October of 1999, she asked him if he would be willing to wait for her. She told him that she wanted a relationship with him and that she wanted to move on with him, but she needed a little time to finally say good-bye. He readily agreed, more than hopeful now. Seven months later, she tells him that she's ready, but that she still loves Tai and may always love him.

Matt couldn't care less about that and they were official. Four years later they were still dating and Matt proposed. He told her that he knew that Sora would always have a place in her heart for Tai and that Tai was her first love, so she'd always love him, but he still wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Sora said yes and told him that even if Tai came back, she could never go back to him because he left her and Matt was the one who had been there for her.

Shortly after that, they moved to the U.S. where Sora started her own fashion line while Matt worked as an astronaut. They settled in New York, the fashion city. Sora's fashion line: Biyo (named after Biyomon) was very popular in the U.S.A. It was also very well known internationally, making Sora a huge hit. Many celebrities wanted their clothes done by Sora now. She was well known enough that when Sora and Matt got married on November 19th, 2004, quite a few celebrity friends that Sora had made came to congratulate them.

Mimi usually modeled for Biyo and she was their top model. Mimi, who'd surprisingly majored in biomedical engineering, put her life on hold, to be a model/singer/actress. She was famous throughout the world now. Nobody had guessed that she'd be so successful. Mimi herself hadn't planned on staying at it for long, but so many people loved her that it was unavoidable. The best part was that Mimi hadn't changed a bit despite her celebrity.

Mimi had started modeling in Japan after the second war had ended. She finally had the time and well she desperately wanted the money so that she could add it to their find Tai fund. One year later, she moved to America with Joe when she received a modeling contract with Vogue fashion magazine. She settled in New York while Joe went to Maryland.

Her career went flying from there and she pretty soon became a top model. Then, in November of 1998, under the persuasion of friends and her manager, she auditioned for a role in a movie version of a musical. She blew the casters and director away and immediately got a part. That was where her acting career began.

As time went on, Mimi began to receive more roles in movies, moving from extra to a minor character to supporting actress. By then, she was becoming well known among the directors and casters because she also modeled on the side. About a year into her acting career, T.K. and Kari joined her in New York and they lived together in a spacious condo.

When her first movie came out, Mimi became a hit among the audience. That was where her singing career also began. In February of 2001, she signed a two year contract with Victoria Secret, got a record deal, and she was offered the star role of a Steven Spielberg movie. None of them could believe it. Who knew that she would become so successful at this?

Once her contract expired and they finished filming the movie, Mimi went to Europe for half a year on tour for two months and then doing modeling shoots and even a fashion show for Biyo, Sora's fashion line. By then Mimi had become a true celebrity.

Still, she didn't let it get to her head. None of them did. Kari believed that because of the pain of the disappearance of Tai constantly on her mind, Mimi didn't have time to get caught up on fame and fortune. Out of all of them, Mimi was affected the most by his disappearance and she was the one who healed the slowest. Mimi didn't even date. She was asked out all the time, but she'd always get this distant look in her eye and then she'd say no. It had been years since she'd gone out on a date but they never bugged her about it.

Kari had a feeling that she knew why Mimi never said yes, but she decided to keep it to herself. She knew that Mimi was in love with Tai. She had confessed it to her and T.K. once in a drunken stupor when she had been depressed about Sora and Tai's relationship. Kari doubted that she remembered telling them, but T.K. and Kari knew.

They knew what the permanent sadness on her face that drew people to her came from Tai. Whenever she was photographed or filmed, she always had a sadness in her eye and it attracted many people to her. People wanted to know where the sadness came from and it made her popular.

They also knew that the passion that she put in her roles that made it seem as though she was the actual character came from her own experiences. She knew what it felt like to be the girl left behind and she always dreamed of being the girl he wanted. Therefore, she had no problem pretending when she was given such a role.

Even in movies where she was supposed to act weak and bratty or where she had to run from a monster, Mimi knew how to do it and make it real because she had lived it. Her experiences in the digiworld and with Tai made her a great actress because she didn't need to act. It was rare for a caster or director to turn her away because she did not audition well.

Then there was T.K… Kari sighed. What had she done to deserve someone like him? He was perfect. He was a basketball player and a writer in his free time. They had started dating freshmen year in high school, the third year of the second war. She and Gatomon had been cleaning up the digiworld when they had been attacked and overcome. They had been captured and then poisoned when T.K. and Davis came to save them with Patamon and Veemon. By then, the poison had kicked in and they had gone unconscious.

Kari didn't exactly know what happened during the two months she was unconscious. All she knew was that T.K. had refused to leave her bedside except to eat and clean himself up. She woke up two months later to hear T.K. talking to her and confessing his love for her. She couldn't contain herself and had giggled. He saw her looking at him and tried to run away in embarrassment when she told him that she loved him too. They had been together ever since.

In August of 1999, they moved in with Mimi in New York as both got in to New York University. Once done with college, the three of them found a nice house in Beverly Hills. Eight years later, on September 12th, 2004, he proposed to her. She said yes, but they couldn't get married until they found Tai. T.K. readily agreed and they restarted their search.

That had been nearly two years ago. They still had little luck finding him and they had reluctantly begun making wedding plans. Of course, it was a big deal for everyone. The nation was excited about the upcoming wedding of the NBA star to his high school sweetheart.

Although the press had been a bit curious as to why he'd pick a mere school teacher, they had been sated by the fact that they had been sweethearts since high school. It was interesting how they'd all turned out so successful, yet they often felt empty inside because one person was missing.

Now they were all gathering for two reasons. The first was because the Navy Special Forces had called Joe, Izzy, and Cody here for a job and the second reason was because Ken was secretly planning a surprise for Yolei for their one-year anniversary. Ken had used Joe, Izzy, and Cody as an excuse to tell Yolei why they were coming here and now he was planning the anniversary date of the century.

Everyone had dropped in to their (T.K., Kari, and Mimi) house in Beverly Hills for the premiere of Mimi's newest movie and the second movie that she starred in as the female lead. They were all staying until the 19th when they would all fly, first-class, to Lexington, Kentucky for Joe, Izzy, and Cody, and secretly, for Ken.

Being the famous director that he was, he had been able to rent the Churchill Downs race track. He asked Kari and Sora to buy the most beautiful flowers in the world and to litter the center, the winner's circle with them until the whole place was covered except for the dining table and a path leading to it. He had asked Mimi to use her skills and cook up Yolei's favorite meal: French onion soup, New England chicken salad, Chicken bruschetta pasta with mashed potatoes and dinner rolls on the side, and for dessert a delicious chocolate éclair.

The dinner was supposed to be a candlelight dinner with Matt and T.K. as waiters and after the dinner, Izzy and Cody were supposed to set up fireworks that would spell the message: 'Happy Anniversary Yolei! Love, Ken.' Then, the biggest surprise yet was to be Joe, bringing in a beautiful white thoroughbred filly that was just for Yolei. Her name was White Star and she truly was beautiful.

Ken had bought her in an auction and had even rented a stable at the Diamond Acres ranch/farm to house her. He was also paying the owner of the place to feed and care for her. The owner of the farm, a Mr. Tyler Briggs, was generous enough to simply sell the stall to Ken and he offered to care for her for free as long as Mr. Briggs was allowed to train her along with the rest of his horses.

Ken had readily agreed knowing that Yolei would be thrilled to finally own a racing horse, any girl would. It was all very romantic and very sweet. Kari knew that Yolei would be thrilled. They were all heading down to Diamond Acres the following weekend after Ken and Yolei's anniversary in order to see White Star get settled in and just relax at the ranch as a family. It was a sort of reunion at Diamond Acres.

The place had been struggling for the last three years due to the lack of love and care for the animals, but in the last six months, with the return of Mr. Briggs, the place was now doing much better with some new staff as well. Mr. Briggs had kindly offered to let them stay at his main house, free of charge.

It would be fun to have the group together again. They hadn't been able to spend time together as a group in what felt like years. It'd be wonderful to spend time together in the seclusion of a horse farm/ranch. Kari was curious and excited to see how a racing farm functioned and how people ran the place. She hoped that during the time they spent there she'd be able to see them train a horse and maybe even witness the birth of a foal.

Who knew, they were staying there for at least a couple of weeks and for some unknown reason, Cody, Izzy, and Joe had business there. Sometime in April the three of them had been given a job that required the three to travel to Lexington, Kentucky in mid-July. This was what had spurred Ken's idea that they all go to Lexington together and gave him the idea for his anniversary gift for Yolei. Ken had told her that they all needed a vacation and that the friends should try to stick together.

Cody, Joe, and Izzy hadn't really disclosed what they were going to be doing in Lexington. All Kari knew was that it had something to do with the mysterious Mr. Briggs, the U.S. government, and a cure. It was top secret so the three boys couldn't share any details. It didn't really bother Kari though. After all, she knew that eventually, the boys would tell the rest of the group what was going on.

Kari couldn't wait to go to Diamond Acres. She had seen a brochure and she had been amazed. It was this beautiful 30-acre horse farm/ranch. It was secluded and was a world in itself. The main house was a mansion with 75 rooms, an indoor Olympic pool, two outdoor Olympic pools, an entire gymnasium, a couple of tennis courts, a gigantic weight room, a dining hall of great elegance, even a theater in the basement, a ball room with a bar, a recreation room, a gigantic library filled to the ceiling with books, a couple of beach volleyball courts, and a complete golf course.

There were also several cabins for those who wished for privacy and seclusion. The rest of the land was dedicated to the horses and the staff who took care of them. There were several, several pastures, a stream that stretched across the farm, 4 stables, and two tracks. The place simply screamed the word rich. A man named Jack Buchanan once owned it, but he had recently passed away and left all the riches that he had to his adopted son Tyler Briggs.

From the local people, Kari had learned that Tyler had come into Jack's life nine years ago, only a few months after the tragic death of his family. The boy had been so tough, hardened by living in the streets, but he had such a capacity to love. He had been a gift from heaven, that's what the townspeople said. He probably was. With Tyler in his life, Jack had learned to move on and had taught him both of his trades, being a Navy SEAL and running a racing farm/ranch.

All the townspeople really knew about Tyler was that he was a really nice boy and very good-looking. He had been away for the past six years, on missions for the Navy SEAL and had recently come back to the place, why, no one outside of the farm knew and those who worked there refused to tell.

Speaking of important days, there was another one coming up not too far into the future: the death of Agumon. Agumon: a great digimon. When he'd died, it was as though Tai had gone with him. Kari had tried her best to help her beloved brother, but he had been beyond help. It had hurt her so much to see him in pain and the guilt in his eyes, but her hurt grew worse when her precious brother disappeared. When he'd left without a trace, the group fell apart as they did before the last time Tai had disappeared from the digiworld.

However, they had managed to come back together and defeat the darkness in the digiworld, all for Tai's sake. They had even managed to get Ken, the former digimon emperor to join them, but most of that credit went to Wormon. When Tai left, the group seemed to have lost its heart and Davis had tried to make up for it, but it was hopeless. They had managed to fight and win, but it had been such a close fight and so many had been lost. They just barely prevailed over the darkness and had been able to return home.

The whole world knew about the digidestined now. There were quite a few out there, in the world, but none were as strong as the twelve of them. For some odd reason, the other digidestined kids weren't as powerful. Maybe it was because there really wasn't any evil left to fight. That's what they all assumed. It was the best explanation and they really didn't want to think of the other possibility.

Now that the world knew about digimon and the digital world, digimon no longer hid their identities to the world and it was far easier for digidestined to visit their digimon partners. However, people didn't travel to the digital world anymore. For some odd reason, people no longer had access to the digital world; they simply couldn't open the gates.

Most people didn't care though, after all, they all had their own lives to think about and often the worry about the digiworld was pushed to the backs of their minds. There was no evil there any longer; there was no need for digidestined there. Besides, it was better this way. There was no longer a possibility that a person could enter the digital world and try to take over it as Ken once tried to do.

Unfortunately, there were people who hated digimon or more likely feared them. Those people didn't like the monster like things that had started coming into the world, destroying things, and making life miserable for humans. Some didn't like how these things had so much power, especially when they digivolved and how much destruction these things could cause. They also didn't like how people would obey every whim of their digimon as though the humans were the pets, not the digimon.

These people wanted to exterminate digimon and destroy the digital world and all the freaks that were digidestined. They were a radical group of people and there was little they could do as the digi-ports were now closed off and digidestined were no longer popping up left and right. Still, they did their best to express their ideas and spread them to other people. Nevertheless, digidestiend believed them to be a small fraction of people and therefore shouldn't be anything that they had to worry about.

Kari sighed. She didn't have to worry about those people, they were just scared and eventually, there wouldn't be people who feared digimon. Tomorrow was another big day. She needed to focus on that. She was going on a shopping spree with Mimi, Yolei, and Sora looking at wedding dresses and then she was meeting T.K. at the caterer for the menu and dinner. Life was perfect; she just wished that her brother were here with her to enjoy it.

**The Eleven that shined brightest have moved on, but the lost One cannot.**


	4. Chapter 2: The Past Returns

CHAPTER 2: The Past Returns

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of digimon.

Tyler Ichiat Makiya, better known as Tyler Briggs sat in his stretch limo with his faithful companion and seeing- eye dog, Riley. He was on his way to pick up the newest guests for his ranch and he couldn't help but curse the fates. He had managed to live twelve years without even a glimpse of them and now, just when he was getting settled and ready to put the past behind him, it had to come and bite him in the butt.

He sighed heavily. The world was a different place now, or so that's what he believed. He assumed that the other place, his true home was safe. In eternal peace, the evil defeated by those he had once called friends, those former friends that he was going to see in a few minutes.

He was content to believe that everything was okay now, that all was well. They had done it, the people who had been his friends, no his family. They had saved the world and they had done it without him. Why would they need him now?

They were no longer important to him. Nothing was important to him anymore. He had simply learned to go through the daily routine that happened to be his life and just survive. After the incident, he had found that life just wasn't what it used to be anymore. He had changed, he had been scarred, and the others didn't understand his pain, not even T.K. who had lost his digimon for a time.

He couldn't cope with his pain, his guilt, the emptiness, but most of all; he couldn't cope with their pity. He had become sick of it, so he had run away, simply left town without even saying good-bye, unless he counted that note he left them. It really hadn't said anything; just that he couldn't take it and that he'd be okay; to forget about him, he wasn't worth it. And then, with all the strength he had, he had left his seven friends and the three women he had loved most in this world: his ex-girlfriend Sora, his sister Kari, and his best friend, his confidante Mimi.

Sora, the memory of her was still fresh in his mind. He was sure he didn't love her anymore. Actually, he was pretty sure that he'd never loved her. He had merely confused his emotions. He wondered if they'd ever see each other again. He was pretty sure that she had moved on, most likely with Matt.

After all, Matt had been pining after Sora as well. Of course, the guy hadn't told him until it was too late. Still, Matt had been mature about it and he tried to be happy for them, which was good. He hoped that Sora had moved on with Matt. If there was any guy who was good enough for Sora, it was Matt.

He wondered how Mimi, his best friend since junior high, was. Their friendship had been weak until they'd started spending time together in junior high and realized how much fun they had and how easy it was to talk to each other. He hoped she was doing well and moving on with her life…he shook his head.

There was no point in wondering how they were. He was going to find out for himself in a few minutes anyways. How the Navy had managed to do this Tyler would never know. They had told him that they were going to find the best doctors in the world for him. It figured that they had to be ghosts from his past.

Why was this happening to him? The way he figured it, Tyler had managed to really piss someone off up there in the sky. He didn't know who and he didn't know how, but Tyler sure was paying for it.

He didn't want to see them again. He was fine now and had managed to forget about them and here they were again back in his life. He never thought that they would come to the United States. And then he received that fateful call from a Mr. Ken Ichijogi. Tyler should have just kept his mouth shut. Or more like his mind. Maybe then it wouldn't have brought them back into his life.

He sighed. He didn't know what to do. They would eventually figure out his identity. There had been no point in saying no to Ken because Cody, Izzy, and Joe were already coming to the ranch anyways. It was just going to be difficult to keep his real identity hidden from them. The three of them alone were incredibly smart and adding his sister and Mimi into the mix would make it near impossible to stay as just Tyler Briggs/ Tyler Ichiat Makiya. They would figure it out.

He decided that he would keep his presence as hidden as possible. To communicate with them through his employers. The only issue with that was that his manager had slightly overbooked the ranch. This meant that one of them had to stay in his personal penthouse. He didn't know if he could keep his past locked away with one of them staying in his house. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do. He would simply have to deal with it.

He couldn't run away forever. Twelve years had been enough. He might as well reveal himself to them rather than have them figure it out. Or maybe he would just let them figure it out. They were very capable of doing so. It would also save him the trouble of exposing his identity.

Tyler was brought out of his thoughts as the limo pulled to a stop in front of the airport. He had brought his stretch limo to fit the 11 guests and a truck with some of his boys to take care of the luggage that they would have. And given Yolei and Mimi, he knew that there would be a lot of it. As he got out of the car he paused to take a big breath. This was it… this was the moment.

The former digidestined were all seated comfortably in their first class seats on flight 286 departing from Los Angeles, California and headed for Lexington, Kentucky. When they arrived, a group of military officials were supposed to be picking up Joe, Cody, and Izzy to give them a briefing on their mission. Meanwhile, Mr. Briggs had generously provided transportation for the others to pick them up from the airport and take them to his ranch where they could settle in for the day.

The flight was close to arrival the pilot had just announced that they would be landing in a few minutes and everyone was back in their seats getting ready to get off the plane. The digidestined took up the majority of the first class cabin, all 11 of them situated in the same general area.

Davis was sitting with his head lolling to the side, in a deep sleep. His mouth was wide open as he snored, drool trickling down his chin. Mimi crinkled her nose in disgust. Davis was ever the same. Seated next to him, Cody was poring over some files that Mimi assumed had to do with the job that he was doing along with Izzy and Joe here in Kentucky.

Across the aisle from them were Izzy and Joe conferring with each other and at times with Cody, both looking through the same files as Cody. They were obviously hard at work, whispering back and forth amongst each other and taking notes carefully and quickly. Mimi couldn't help but wonder what exactly their top secret job was. After all, it involved the US government and the owner of the ranch that they were going to be vacationing at.

As Mimi drifted off in thought, time passed quickly and she realized that they landing. She tightened her seatbelt and sat up in her seat. Landings always made her slightly nervous. Her stomach would always flip flop and get these funny sensations. Pretty soon it was all over with and the plane had landed. The captain thanked them for a wonderful flight and the digidestined got off the plane.

"Mr. Briggs said that he was going to be sending a car and what not to greet us, so that's what we should look for." Izzy said as he scanned the crowd.

"Hmmm… I don't see anything. I wonder where he is." Cody stated worriedly.

"No worries Cody, I'm sure everything is fine and he'll be here soon." T.K. said cheerfully.

"Yeah" Davis added in with a pause, "see! There he is!" Davis pointed beyond Cody's head to a tall dark skinned man holding a sign that said K. Ichijogi party of 11. Next to him was a slightly taller man with a cane. He had nicely tanned skin and a muscular build but that was all Mimi could see of him.

"Ken Ichijogi?" The dark skinned man asked as the digidestined approached them.

"That's me." Ken stated stepping forward and sticking out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Dave Shelley, manager of Diamond Acres Ranch. Welcome to Kentucky." Dave said shaking Ken's outstretched hand.

"Thank you." Ken stated once they had shaken hands. Dave turned to the man beside him.

"This is Tyler Briggs, owner of Diamond Acres Ranch and Farm." The taller man stepped forward and the others all got a better look at him.

He had on a military hat that hung low on his head, covering the top of his face along with a pair of black shades to hide his eyes. The rest of his face was covered by the dark beard that stretched across his chin and jaw, covering the lower half of his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Ichijogi." Mr. Briggs said, sticking out his hand as well. Ken shook it a smiled, noticing just how firm the grip was.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Briggs." Kan said. The man chuckled softly.

"Please, call me Tyler." Ken nodded his head, "then you must call me Ken." Tyler smiled.

"Lieutenant Briggs?" Izzy asked, staring at him curiously. Tyler merely nodded.

"In the flesh." Tyler replied. Izzy, Joe, and Cody immediately saluted him. Tyler responded in turn and they all put their arms down.

"Doctors Kido, Izumi, and Niwa, I presume?" Cody nodded for all of them.

"Well then, you and your companions, welcome to Kentucky. I hope that you will all enjoy your stay at the Diamond Acres Ranch. Now if you will follow me, we can gather up your luggage and head for the ranch." Ken nodded his head and they all followed Dave and Tyler.

"You know if it weren't for the beard and if I could just see his eyes, I bet that Tyler Briggs is one gorgeous man." Yolei whispered to Sora. Sora smacked her arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" snapped Yolei. Sora glared at her.

"You're married Yolei." Sora responded.

"Hey just because I'm married doesn't mean that I can't look and admire." Sora rolled her eyes at the girl while Mimi and Kari snickered.

"Come on, admit it. Tyler Briggs is one of the best looking men the world has ever seen."

"Maybe," Sora conceded, "but we shouldn't talk about this with our men around."

"Are you kidding? This is the best time. It puts them in line a little, knowing that they have potential competition. Ain't that right girls?" Yolei stated matter of factly. Mimi and Kari nodded.

"Yeah, it's just a little incentive for them to treat us in a more special manner. You know to win over our affections even further?" Kari added in.

"Really?" Sora asked, intrigued. Mimi smiled.

"Are you kidding? Sora you should really try it sometime. Trust me; it works like a charm every single time."

"If you say so…" Sora trailed off.

"Oh nonsense!" Yolei cut in, "now let's go girls, we have a vacation to take!" Yolei and Sora ran ahead to their respective husbands. Kari followed the girls, trailing behind the guys when she noticed that Mimi had yet to move. She turned to look at her.

"Mimi, are you coming?" Kari asked. Mimi broke out of her reverie.

"Yeah, just a second, I'm coming." Mimi said in a dazed tone.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Kari asked concerned.

"No, nothing's wrong… it's just that there's something familiar about that Tyler guy. Something really familiar and I can't put my finger on it. If only I could get a closer look at him. But he's wearing at hat and sunglasses and that beard. I don't even know anyone with a beard, but he's so familiar. I've seen him before, I can feel it." Kari nodded in agreement.

"Yea, I know exactly what you mean. Come on, we'll figure it out once we get to the Ranch." Mimi nodded and the two ran to catch up with the others.

**Twelve cycles have passed and Eleven will be Twelve once more inevitably.**


	5. Chapter 3: Flashback: Blinded

CHAPTER 3: Flashback – Blinded

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of digimon.

Above the United States, near Lexington, Kentucky (six months prior)

The voice was calling him again. It kept saying his name, telling him that it needed his help. He scoffed to himself. Why would anyone need or want his help? It kept coming to him in his dreams, interrupting his sleep. He felt a sense of longing, desperation, and most importantly fear in that voice that called to his soul.

He knew where it was coming from, from a place that he had refused to go to for the last twelve years. A place that was more his home than anywhere he had lived in all of the twenty-six years of his life. He refused to heed its call, its plea for help. He would not, could not go back. He couldn't handle the pain, the guilt, and the overwhelming emptiness inside of him.

He spent the last twelve years trying to forget, to move on. He'd gotten this far, and he wasn't going to lose it all by going back. Never!

He had spent the first three of the past twelve years wandering around the world, getting by through meager means. Through this experience, he had learned to survive with the bare minimal needs. He had become a survivor but at the same time a loner. He had taught himself to depend on himself and trust no one else. He had let too many people get close and in the end, it had only hurt them. It cost him and more importantly his friends too much for him to actually be around them. He was much better off without them. They were much better off without a friend like him.

He couldn't even call himself that anymore. He was hardly human. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt somewhat human and whole. Actually, he could, but that had been before he'd lost his best friend… he shook his head furiously. He wouldn't go there. He would not let his mind take him there and yet it was coming back to haunt him. He slammed the door shut on that train of thought.

Once he had gotten used to being a loner and depending on himself, he had met someone who had helped him, taken him in. He was a Navy commander and a powerful one. He had given him a chance, and taught him things he would have never learned otherwise.

In a sense, the man had become his father in all but blood. He had spent the next four years with him, until he had become a SEAL and was called to serve. He was a great soldier, or so he was told, but he didn't care. He served this country for Jack. He did it all for Jack.

America wasn't home, he didn't have a home; not anymore. But America was a place to stay, a country to serve and keep his mind occupied from bitter thoughts of the past.

In the last five years, he had quickly made his way up in the ranks until he had his own squad to command, gaining medals in the process. His team was the best of the best, his men, the closest things to friends he had. It was nearly impossible to have a successful team, be a part of it and not become friends with the people on that team.

They were great a great team and their record was one of the cleanest. He knew that Jack was proud of him, the man had told him so often enough. After all, his whole life was the Squad, most of his time spent all over the world, executing missions. He was hardly ever in his house, maybe for a couple weeks a year.

Most of his time was spent in the outdoors on a mission, or on a transport ship, being shipped out or receiving orders. It didn't matter though. As long as he didn't get sucked into his past and the pain and bitterness that came with that.

He hadn't wanted to waste his time making friends, he didn't need them and they were better off without his friendship. Still the squad had warmed their way into his heart and after all that they had gone through, he could not fail to bond with them.

SEAL training had been tough, but he had managed on his own and then later on with his training buddies. They had gotten through BUDs together and taught him that he could still have friends. He never let them get too close, but he made sure that they knew he would always be there for them and that they could tell him anything. That they could trust him and depend on him.

Their last mission had been a search-and rescue counter terrorist operation in Baghdad. They had retrieved the package and then just barely made it back to the rendezvous point. However, they had made it with a price… He had lost more than half of his team, five men. There were only three left including himself: Ryan "Red" O'Connor, his swim buddy, Mitch "the Switch" Buchanan, and himself, now known as Tyler "Daredevil" Briggs, Double d, Lt., or boss.

Switch had been severely injured and Red and Tyler had had to practically carry him to the chopper. He was still in the infirmary, suffering from four broken ribs from a fall on a rock, a bullet in each leg, one in his left shoulder, and a severe cut going diagonally across his chest that had penetrated the skin pretty deeply.

Red had received cuts, most minor and many bruises whereas he himself had received a gash on the side of his head, a broken collar bone, a right leg that had both bones broken, and an injury far worse that he'd probably never recover from: blindness.

During the mission, he had been in the line of a bomb and the shrapnel had penetrated his eyes, destroying the retinal tissue. Now, he was temporarily in a wheelchair because he couldn't use crutches and he had a guide dog.

Oddly enough, he didn't exactly need one. After six years of military training and three basically living in the outdoors, his senses had developed tenfold. He could hear, touch, smell, and taste far better than any man in the world.

Now, after the mission, his other 4 senses had increased once more in order to compensate for the loss of the use of his eyes. However, he wasn't like Daredevil, he couldn't see no matter what. He had no radar vision and yet he still didn't seem blind. People couldn't tell that he was blind, but he knew and that was all that mattered.

His blindness had come around the same time as the commander's death. Jack Buchanan had passed away right around the time of his mission. A message had been sent to Tyler telling him that he needed to come back home to make funeral arrangements and to be present at the reading of the will.

Being injured made getting a vacation fairly easy. His superiors were all worried about him and had ordered him to go home. He had protested profusely, but none of them heeded his words. They told him he needed a break and that as of that moment, he was put off the active duty list and on the wounded and recovering list.

He scoffed. He doubted that he would ever be put on active duty ever again. He was blind. He was no longer a true soldier; he was no longer the warrior that he used to be. He hadn't been whole to begin with, but now he wasn't even a half.

In this broken state, he had gone back to Kentucky. He mourned for the man who had been his father and sole companion in his times of need. Jack had been getting old, but Tyler had not wanted to see him go. Jack had been an anchor for him, the only thing keeping him sane. Now he had only himself to depend on and he had feared that he would revert back to the empty shell that he had once been and still partially was.

He would never heal from the accident and could never forget it nor could he ever forget the people he left behind. As much as he wanted and as hard as he tried, he could not forget them. But he refused to let his mind wander to them and wonder how they were doing. It was no longer his concern. The fate of this world and that one was no longer in his hands and should never be placed in his hands ever again.

Why was he thinking about them? They were no longer a part of his life. They probably forgot him by now. He couldn't let thoughts of them, missing them, get to him because then he'd have to go back and he couldn't go back. He had to focus on the now, this exact moment in time.

Still, he couldn't help missing them, wondering if they were thinking about him, if they missed him as much as he missed them. He sighed. There were other important things, like his men, like Jack, well, Jack's houses anyways.

His doctors, superiors, and friends had told him to go home and rest. To focus on healing so that he could get better. He didn't see the point. He would never be able to see again. It doesn't matter that his other senses had heightened so much that people couldn't tell that he was blind. Tyler could still tell that he was blind and there was nothing that he could ever do about it. Nothing.

He was nothing and that was what he would always be. A stupid fucking nobody.

**Lost innocence turned to bitterness and anger, the One yet to come loses sight.**


	6. Chapter 4: Digireunion

CHAPTER 4: Discoveries and a Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of digimon.

Izzy shook his head vigorously, trying to stay awake. He, Joe, and Cody had been up for the past eighteen hours, trying to come up with some sort of way to help this man. The U.S. Navy had contacted the three of them and they had been asked if they'd be willing to do their nation a service. It had turned out to be something that none of them had ever even imagined.

The Navy was paying them money to try and find a cure for this man, Tyler Daredevil Briggs-Buchanan. He had been blinded while on a mission when a bomb had blown up near him and the shrapnel had torn into his face, marking him with a scar and leaving him blind. The shrapnel had completely torn into his eyes, causing so much scarring, that the damage had been irreparable.

The U.S. Navy was willing to pay for their research to find some way to cure Lt. Briggs and hopefully, many other blind people in this world. Of course, this task was near impossible. Aside from the brain, the eye was probably the most complicated organ in the world. It was beyond comprehension to try and create a replica of it that would function just as well as the real thing.

Still, they were willing to try. After all, this was an opportunity of a lifetime: to cure the blind! How many people were given the opportunity to do that?

So far, they had simply been studying images of Lt. Briggs's eyes and taking note of the damage done to it. The funniest part of the whole project was that they hadn't seen the man since their meeting at the airport. He seemed to avoid them like the plague.

Tyler had given them complete access to his house, provided them with a state of the art lab with the best equipment, and access to what was probably the most complicated and advanced computerized system they had ever seen and yet they never saw him. None of them did. They had a name, but none of them had a face to associate the name with.

Also, according to Anna, Tyler's housekeeper, most of the staff at Diamond Acres had not met the man as well. Only a select few like Anna, Max, the butler, Dana, Mr. Briggs's secretary, Alex, the head trainer of the farm, Dave, the manager of the ranch part of the place, Michelle, the head caretaker of the horses for the ranch part of the place, and Chris, the head caretaker of the horses for the farm part of the place had met the man and knew him as a friend.

They were the only seven people who knew him and this was out of a staff of nearly two hundred. Even stranger yet, was the fact that they always avoided questions about the man's past and where he had come from.

They never spoke of how Jack Buchanan had found him and where he had been before he had come here. It was as though there was a taboo placed over the topic and the staff knew better than to ask.

If a tourist asked anyone about it, the person asked would either change the subject or politely respond without really answering the question. It truly was a curious fact and Izzy was dying to figure out the puzzle that was Tyler Briggs.

He had already tried hacking into the computers in the lab, but he had come across a series of codes, walls, and other such means of protection so complex that he had a headache merely looking at the thing. Whoever had created the defense system was a true computer whiz and Izzy greatly admired the person. The system was prodigious!

There truly was no other word for it. After he had tried unsuccessfully a countless number of times to hack into the system, Izzy had decided to try hacking into the Navy SEAL records, but that had proved to be pointless as well. The Navy only had a vague six-year old picture of him and information about him in the service.

Although the lieutenant had a very impressive record with an excessive amount of medals, there was no information about his past, his background or anything that Izzy had been looking for. It drove him insane that this man Tyler Ichiat Makiya seemed to have popped out of nowhere twelve years ago.

Twelve years ago… wait a minute…Tyler Ichiat Makiya? What was that? Oh, he was onto something now. According to the Navy records, Mr. Briggs had changed his name from Tyler Ichiat Makiya to Tyler Briggs Buchanan after Jack Buchanan had adopted him. It also said that his nationality was Japanese.

Tyler Ichiat Makiya. Ichiat Makiya…there was no way that those two words could be actual Japanese names. Wait a minute…Izzy tried writing the two words backwards: Taihci Ayikma… prodigious! He had found something…now if he shuffled the letters around … that's it! Tyler Taichi Kamiya! Izzy had done it once again!

"YES!" Izzy shouted jumping out of his seat. Joe and Cody immediately came running.

"What is it? Did you find something Izzy?" Joe asked curiously. Izzy nodded.

"Take a look at this, guys. According to the Navy records here…Tyler Briggs-Buchanan had his name changed from Tyler Ichiat Makiya to Tyler Briggs-Buchanan and that he was from Japan."

He paused for a moment, "Ichiat Makiya, does that sound like a real Japanese name to you? Of course not! However, if you write the two names backwards, you get Taihci Ayikma, now unscramble and you get Tyler Taichi Kamiya!"

"Unbelievable! We spent all these years looking for him and look at how he's just thrown at our feet. It's got to be fate! Tyler Briggs-Buchanan is none other than our old friend Taichi Kamiya!" Suddenly, the three men heard a collective gasp from behind them and they turned around to see the others standing behind them, staring at them in shock.

"I knew it! I knew he looked familiar!" Mimi shouted triumphantly, breaking the silence.

"How did you guys get down here?!" exclaimed a surprised Cody. The others weren't supposed to be down here. Lt. Briggs/Tai had specifically requested that the others not find out about the project.

"Oh you don't think we're that stupid do you? You guys never told us where you'd disappear to for hours on end and what you'd do, so we took the initiative and we followed you. You guys aren't very good at being secretive. Anyways, is what you said true? Is Mr. Briggs really Tai?" asked Matt. Izzy nodded his head solemnly.

"Yes, I believe he is. It all fits actually, he came here twelve years ago from Japan, and he switched around his name and then was found by Jack Buchanan and adopted by him. Then he joined the Navy and became a SEAL, what better way is there to stay hidden and be constantly occupied? If he wasn't Tai, why would he try so hard to avoid seeing us and why would he be kind enough to let us stay here for free? It has to be him!"

"But, why are you guys here? I mean what are you guys doing down here for my brother?" asked a very scared Kari. Izzy exchanged glances with Cody and Joe and then took the initiative.

"Um… well, you see… the things is…during his last mission, Tai was caught in the line of a bomb and the shrapnel tore into his eyes and well…now he's blind."

The silence was deafening. You could hear a pin drop and land on the floor; it was so quiet. Izzy waited as he watched the information sink into the faces of the others. He saw Kari bury herself into T.K.'s arms, sobbing quietly, Sora and Matt hug sadly, Ken comfort a saddened Yolei, a bewildered looking Davis, and then he saw Mimi, her lower lip trembling in an effort to not cry.

"Well, what do we do now?" Izzy asked them solemnly. Kari was the first to speak up.

"What do we do? What do you mean what do we do?! We go to him of course. We go to him and we give him the beating of a lifetime for leaving us like that without a trace." T.K. put a calming hand on Kari's shoulder and then said:

"I think he meant how we are going to find him and tell him that we know the truth, honey." Kari looked sheepish for a moment and then gave Izzy an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really emotional right now. I've just learned that my brother has been a Navy SEAL for the past twelve years and that he has also been blind for the past few months. Imagine how lonely it must be for him. I mean, he doesn't seem to have very many friends and he's blind. He's so alone in this world. I wonder how he copes with it."

"He doesn't. We all know how Tai is. He probably fills his life with work and other things in order to forget that fact that he's blind, just like he tried to forget about what happened twelve years ago with Agumon…" Matt trailed off, thinking of that terrible battle where one of their close friends had died.

Izzy saw a look of guilt cross Ken's face and Yolei's comforting hand rest on Ken's shoulder. Even after all these years, Ken still hadn't been able to get over the guilt of the things he had done as the digimon emperor. He was so ashamed and guilty, yet he couldn't move on even now. At least, not until he was forgiven by Tai the person he had grieved and wronged the most in this world.

"Well guys, how are we going to find him? I mean we know he's here, but he could be anywhere on this farm and this place is huge! How are we going to find him? And when we do, what are we going to say to him?" asked Joe. Sora laughed bitterly.

"Say to him? The first thing I'm going to do is give him a good punch in the face. Then, I'll hug the life out of the bastard. It was like he had wanted to forget about us, pretend that we never existed and we were never a part of his life. He didn't even have the balls to break up with me properly. For that, I'm not going to forgive him until I get to give him a good punch or two, just to make me feel better." said Sora. At first, they all looked at her strangely, wary of what she had said. Then, they all burst out laughing at the sheer hilarity of what she had said.

"Wow, we should televise our lives on a soap opera or something. It'd make a hell of a drama you know." exclaimed a laughing Davis.

"Yea, for once I'd have to agree with you on that one." said T.K. smiling widely.

"So anyway, do you have any recent pictures of him? We've only seen him once and he had on a hat, sunglasses and that beard!" Izzy nodded and turned back to the computer screen. He typed in a few things and loaded the picture.

"Well, the most recent picture I have is from six years ago, he could have changed from then. We don't know for sure. I do know that he has a scar running along his nose. It goes diagonally across the bridge of his nose and it starts right above the edge of his left eyebrow and it ends below his right eye."

"Where'd he get the scar from? The bomb?" Izzy nodded his consent as the image finally opened. The picture was an entire frontal view and Tai was standing in only a pair of Navy trunks, looking like the perfect example of the Navy's G.I. Joe.

He was tall with broad shoulders and rippling muscles. His arms were chiseled and crossed in front of his chest and he had a washboard stomach. He was very tall, about 6' 2" with powerful and muscular legs. He had high cheek bones, a strong jaw, and a tiny cleft in his chin. His face was expressionless, but his eyes held the world in their depths.

"Wow. Look at him. He's so different…who would have thought that he'd turn into such a god? But if you look at his eyes…they're so bitter and angry. They don't have the warmth and friendliness that they used to, but the courage and the determination, they're still there." Mimi murmured quietly.

"Anyways, what do you say we start looking our former leader Taichi?" asked Joe.

"That won't be necessary." called a voice from behind them. They all whirled around to find themselves staring at Taichi Kamiya. He stood in the doorway without the beard and accompanied by his dog, Riley.

"Tai?" asked Kari hesitantly. Tai smiled bitterly.

"In the flesh." Kari slowly walked towards him and stopped. There was a pause as everyone waited. Then BAM! She punched him hard in the face. His head turned because of the force of the blow.

"I don't believe I deserved that." Kari ignored that statement and threw herself into his arms.

A/N: Sorry, no prophecy for this one. First filler chapter


	7. Chapter 5: Closure

CHAPTER 5: Finding Closure

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Matt stood back with the others, watching the reunion between brother and sister. The two of them had been standing there for the past half an hour merely holding each other now. No words had been exchanged, yet it seemed as though the two were communicating through their bond as brother and sister.

"Oh my God…your eyes." sniffled Kari quietly. A trembling hand reached up to brush the hair out of his eyes, but he reached out and stopped her.

"Don't. It's not like it bothers me anyway." He said almost bitterly. Then he turned to face the others. The minute he turned around, all three of the other girls gasped.

"Oh my goodness." exclaimed Yolei.

"Wow. Talk about yummy." said Sora. Mimi nodded vigorously.

"You're telling me." Mimi replied with a dazed expression on her face. Matt could feel a sick feeling build in the pit of his stomach. This couldn't be good. Even he had to admit that Tai had changed a lot…and for the better. He truly could pass for a Greek God, an Adonis.

He was even taller than Matt now probably 6' 2" or something like that. Unlike most military men, he wasn't built like a tank; he had just enough to make it look good. His arms were chiseled, perfectly sculpted and his legs were long and powerful. His shoulders were broad and well Matt couldn't tell but through his shirt, it looked as though the guy had an 8 pack.

Would Sora love Tai again? She may be married to Matt, but Sora had always told him that there had been no definite end to her relationship with Tai and so she felt as though she could only give part of herself to him. Still, Matt had insisted that they get married anyway and here they were…happily married, at least for now.

He glanced at Tai and noticed that however much his body had changed, nothing was as different as his face- especially his hair. His face was empty and almost seemed lifeless, almost. He had a strong nose that was slightly crooked as if it had been broken once or twice and hadn't properly healed. The scar was there as well, the slightly red line going across his nose. His mouth was shaped into a bitter smile and Matt could see the dimple in each cheek.

His mouth held two rows of perfectly straight, pearly white teeth and they sparkled in the light. His hair was cut shorter than it used to be; his bush was gone. Instead, it stood up all over the place in a messy mass of thick brown spikes with a bang or two falling over his eyes.

His sapphire blue eyes were glazed over by the loss of his sight, yet still held a haunted look. They were full of dark emotions: bitterness, anger, sadness, emptiness; it hurt Matt to see his best friend this way. Tai had changed so much… too much. He wished that they could fix it. That look in his eyes… if it weren't for the fact that Tai was Matt's best friend, Matt would have been scared of his eyes.

He shook his head. He had more important things to worry about like his wife, Sora. After her break up with Tai, she had fallen apart. He had merely left without much of a good bye. There had been no closure in their relationship. Matt had worked hard to get her to trust him and fall in love with him, but it had been worth it. They were happily married now for a few months over two years.

However, the sick feeling in his stomach would not go away. Matt couldn't help but let the doubt cloud over his mind once more. For the six years they had been dating, Sora had had to constantly reassure Matt that she loved him and was over Tai. After they got married, Matt had been fine because he felt secure in the knowledge that they were married. Occasionally, he had even felt guiltily relieved that they had never found Tai again.

Now…Tai was back. Matt was thrilled to have his best friend back, but he still felt the guilt, the doubt, and worry. Would Sora go back to Tai, would she fall back in love with Tai, and was Tai still in love with her? Would he lose Sora to Tai? Matt shook his head furiously.

No. He wouldn't think that way. He wouldn't let her go without a fight. After all, Sora was married to him. He merely hoped that it wouldn't have to come to that. He knew though, that he was willing to do anything to keep Sora with him.

"Hey," stated the soothing voice of his wife, "don't think like that. I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. I don't love Tai anymore. I love you and only you. You're the one for me. I married you because I love you. Don't forget that Matt. Tai and I, we just need closure in our relationship so that we can move on officially.

"Don't worry, in my heart, I've already moved on and chosen you. I just need to make sure that he's okay. I want to be able to give you my all. Besides, from the looks of him, he isn't the same Tai. I think that it'd take a lot to get him to love someone.

"It's blatantly obvious that he's still not over Agumon. Why else would he have never written to us or called? Trust me Matt. Tai isn't in any condition to give his heart to someone. He has to heal first. We'll help him heal and then we'll help him find love." Matt nodded and smiled at his beautiful wife.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her slim waist. She leaned in for a kiss and his smile grew wider as their lips met in a tender kiss.

"Oh come on guys, get a room!" exclaimed Tai, shocking everyone in the room but himself.

"What?" he asked curiously when no one responded. Matt felt relieved that Tai seemed to be happy for them. He hoped that they could somehow pick up their friendships where they left off and it looked like that maybe, just maybe they would.

"Just because I'm blind, doesn't mean that I'm deaf." Tai stated bitterly. Everyone glanced around at each other, unsure of what to say.

"We know Tai, we just need some time to adjust to this, you know?" Davis asked.

"Adjust, right. Of course I understand. After all, none of you have to adjust to being blind. I'm so sorry for my previous behavior." Tai replied sarcastically.

"Tai, we're sorry, Davis didn't mean it that way. Please don't be angry." Mimi pleaded with him, putting her hand on his shoulder in a familiar motion. Tai turned to her and seemed to stare deep into her eyes. Mimi had to stop herself from shivering. Although they were full of angry emotions and glazed over by his sightlessness, they were still the beautiful eyes that she remembered.

"Right. I apologize for my rudeness. Truly." Tai stated. Immediately, he had transformed into a different person. Right before their eyes, he turned into Tyler Buchanan. It was astounding.

Matt glanced down at his wife and noticed that she was giving him a questioning look. She was obviously wondering if she should talk to Tai right now. Matt nodded his head vigorously and did his best to smile encouragingly at her. After her words to him, he no longer felt as insecure as he used to. He felt confident in their marriage and he didn't fear that it'd be taken away.

"Um Tai, could we talk for a minute? It's not going to take long, I just want to talk." said Sora, turning to face Tai while still in Matt's embrace. For a minute there was silence as all waited for Tai's response. Then he smiled what Matt believed to be a fake smile and nodded. The others all watched as Sora and Tai left the lab, closing the door behind them.

Matt glanced around the room, trying to guess what the others were feeling. As he glanced around, his gaze paused and stayed at Mimi's face. She looked sad, nervous, happy, guilty, scared and for a second there Matt could have sworn that he'd seen jealousy, but there was no trace of it on her face. There was only happiness, sadness, guilt, fear, and nervousness.

Matt could understand those emotions. He himself was feeling them. None of them had any idea as to what he might have gone through. They didn't even know if he had gotten over the loss of Agumon yet, but from the looks of him, the answer seemed to be no. Matt didn't care. If Tai was over Agumon, then good for him, but if he wasn't then they'd help him. Matt continued glancing around and stopped at Davis. He saw the same feelings as Mimi, but he also saw anger in the young leader's eyes.

"Davis, what's wrong? Why do you look so angry? Aren't you happy that we found Tai?" he asked. The goggle head nodded and replied:

"Yea, I am. It's just that I'm still mad at him for leaving in the first place. I mean, if he hadn't left, well the fight for the digital world wouldn't have been as hard as it was. Heck, it probably wouldn't have ended the way it did. Without Tai, we barely won any of our battles."

"With Tai, I bet that we'd have crushed all of our enemies. You know that when he first disappeared, we spent a lot of time looking for him and mourning the loss of him and Agumon. His disappearance dropped morale soooo much."

"How much easier would the war have been if he hadn't left? I doubt that we'd have lost as many friends as we did and I don't think that it would have lasted as long." Matt stared at him for a moment and shook his head.

Where was this coming from? Who would have thought that Davis would actually be serious for once? Who would have thought that he'd harbor feelings of bitterness and anger towards his hero, his idol? What a shocker.

"What are you talking about? Are you saying that everything that happened during the war was Tai's fault? How could you say that Davis? You worshipped him!" exclaimed Kari furiously.

"Shhhh. Calm down guys. We don't want Tai to hear. He's already got a lot on his shoulders and his hearing is probably really good by now." whispered Mimi quietly.

"I'm not saying that it's his fault or anything. I just wish that he'd stayed with us instead of leaving Japan. Then he wouldn't be blind and everything." said Davis defensively.

"I have to admit…even though I don't agree with most of what you said I understand where you're coming from. Still, you shouldn't say stuff like that. Tai probably heard you and that's not good. He's already emotionally and mentally unstable. We can't push him over the edge."

"Yeah, Matt's right. We should just be glad that he's here, safe and sound." added Joe.

"I agree. Now all we have to do is to fine the cure to his blindness and all will be well."

"Oh, I don't think that all will be well Izzy. I doubt that that'll ever happen." interrupted Tai. They all turned around to see Tai and Sora coming back into the room. Sora was wiping a few tears from her face, but they both looked happy…well, as happy as Tai was ever going to look without smiling. Matt went over to his wife and gently brushed her tears away. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, sniffling quietly. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"Well then, why don't we all head on up and to our beds. It's been a long night and I'm sure that you're all tired. We'll meet again tomorrow and I'll try to answer some of your questions. Okay?" there was a pause as he waited for everyone to agree, "All right then. Tomorrow after breakfast. Good night."

With that said, he left the room with the others trailing him silently. Matt slowed down the pace with his wife for some privacy and turned to her and asked, "Hey, are you okay? Did you guys clear everything?" She nodded happily.

"Yea. I know that we got closure. I can completely move on to my life with you. I'm all yours. Thanks so much Matt. I love you." He smiled adoringly at her and kissed her forehead.

"I love you too." She smiled happily up at him and they walked together to their room and bed.

A/n: Yeah, no prophecy again. It's just another filler chapter.


End file.
